April the 14th Part I by Gillian Welch Lyrics

When the iceberg hit,
Oh they must of known
God moves on the water
Like Casey Jones.

So I walked downtown
On my telephone
And took a lazy turn
Through the red-eye zone

It was a five band bill
A two dollar show
I saw the van out front
From Idaho

And a girl passed out
In the backseat trash
There was no way they'd make
Even a half a tank of gas.

They looked sick and stoned
And strangely dressed
No one showed
From the local press
But I watched them walk
Through the bottom land
And I wished I played
In a rock and roll band

Hey, hey
It was the 14th day of April

Well they closed it down
With the sails in rags
And they swept up the fags
And the local rags

Threw the plastic cups
Into plastic bags
And the cooks cleaned the kitchen
With the staggers and the jags.

Ruination day
And the sky was red
I went back to work
And back to bed

And the iceberg broke
And the Okies fled
And the Great Emancipator
Took a bullet in the back of the head