Seen tDmhe arrow oAn the dDmoorpost
SDmaying this laAnd is coDmndemned
All the waAy from NCew OrGleans A#to JeruCselDmem
I tDmravelled Ato EastDm Texas
WDmhere many maArtyrs Dmfell
And I knowA no one Ccan sing the Gblues
A#Like Blind WiCllie McTDmell

Well I heard that hooter singing
As they were taking down the tents
The stars above the barren trees
Were his only audience
Them charcoal gypsy maidens
Can strut their feathers well
But nobody can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell

See them big plantations burning
Hear the cracking of the whips
Smell that sweet magnolia blooming
See the ghosts of slavery ships
I can hear them tribes a moaning
Hear that undertaker's bell
Nobody can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell

There's a woman by the river
With some fine young handsome man
He's dressed up like a squire
Bootleg whiskey in his hand
There's a chain gang on a highway
I can hear them rebels yell
But I know no one can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell

Well God is up in Heaven
And we are what was his
But power,greed and corruptable seed
Seem to be all that there is
I'm gazing out the window
of the St. James Hotel
And I know no one can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell