In the Redwing Valley, on the Injun side
Upon my daddy's pony I would ride
Now I work in the city on the factory line
And I sing "The Rock of Ages" in a midnight choir sometimes
(Chorus)
In praise or lamentation,
Peace, or desperation;
Any way I do, I come into
The presence of the Lord
In the twilight hour, when the whistles blow
Out upon that shotgun street I'll go
Johnny Walker on the sidewalk, asking for my change
Prophesying thunder; man, he's sleeping in the rain
Chorus
Hey, can you hear the trumpet blowing?
Hey, won't you come up where I am?
Sister, will you walk beside me where I'm going
Up the shadow canyon
In the pure blood of the Lamb?
When the midnight special come to take me home
And the toothless buzzard, Time, gnaws down my bones
I will sail on a river in a boat of reeds
Crying, "Come, O come Emmanuel; in this, my hour of need"