Bad Blood

I was born in the middle of a storm

About a mile from the Naches Trace

My momma died and my sister cried

There was fourteen children to raise

We was living in a shack by the railroad track

The winter was a-freezing cold

But I was wearing boots, I could fight and shoot

Before I was ten years old

My brother was down in Jackson town

Doin' life without parole

Bad blood

My daddy had a still at the top of the hill

Till the deputy sheriff came by

Daddy met him at the door with a .44

And he shot him right between the eyes

Sent him to his maker in a shallow grave

Dug it in the pouring rain

And Daddy said, "Son, I'm gonna have to run

I'm leaving on the midnight train

But before I go, I want you to know

What's flowing in your veins

Is bad blood"

He said, "It's time you knew what's a-coming to you

Like my daddy passed it on to me

There ain't no escape, it's like a copperhead snake

Crawling up the family tree

And all the while, the devil smiles

Feasting on the rising flood

Of bad blood"

Well, I left home when I was barely grown

And forgot about the family curse

I met Rosalie down in New Orleans

And I married her for better or worse

Then late one night she got me in a fight

Flirting with another man

And my blood ran quick and it made me sick

When he died there in my hands

And deep inside I felt a crimson tide

Burn me like a brand

Bad blood

And I could hear my daddy's voice still ringing in my ear

He said, "It's time you knew what's a-coming to you

Like my daddy passed it on to me

There ain't no escape, it's like a copperhead snake

Crawling up the family tree

And all the while, the devil smiles

Feasting on the rising flood

Of bad blood"

I got bad blood flowing in my veins

And there ain't no escape, it's like a copperhead snake

Bad blood

Sent him to his maker in a shallow grave

Dug it in the pouring rain

Bad blood

The devil smiles all the while

As he's feasting on the rising flood

Of bad blood

Bad blood