The Fiery Death of Willie Bodine

Saturday night down in Harlan, Kentucky

And a song on the radio winds

When the DJ broke, Lord it made my head spin

Cause the death that he announced was that of Willie Bodine

Willie Bodine, he was a criminal

A practicing soldier of crime

In the battles he fought, Lord he never got caught

And he sure got away good this time

He was blinded by rain on the windshield

Blinded by tears in his eyes

He was blinded by rage at a criminal's fate

He was blinded by too many dreams that had died

Now Willie Bodine, he was a dreamer

He never would work in the coal mines

His visions were pure but they never were cured

And poverty had stuck to him like slime

Well good fortune was never his lady love

And fame was a two dollar whore

He spent most of his money on pictures of Jesus

And what he had left he spent on his car

Well they say he held up a grocery store

The one he held up ten times before

But this time he cursed and he broke out all the windows

And he threw up all over the well

When he took out of there like a ninja from hell

And he rode out the mountain like wind

If he went in there faster he thought he could master

The pain of the man he'd been

He was blinded by rain on the windshield

Blinded by tears in his eyes

He was blinded by rage at a criminal's fate

He was blinded by too many dreams that had died

Somebody died on the highway

In the beer and gasoline bind

There's a black cloud of smoke over Eastern Kentucky

And who there among you will cry

At the fiery death of Willie Bodine