[Verse 1]
Well I killed a man in Birmingham
I hit him with a tire iron
He did not move and I do not give a damn
I've been working here like a slave mule
Sucking the earth of dry crude
Looking for a way out of it all
Cops are coming
I can feel 'em here
My back is crawling with standing hair
Wouldn’t mind to see a few pigs fall

[Chorus]
So take me down to the river
With my blood all on the floor
'Cause I don't know if I can carry this weight much longer anymore
Take me up the mountain
On a cloud bound for the sky
Don't go prayin' for me because tonight I'm prepared to die

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 2]
At night I often wonder what my tombstone would say
Would they mention any of my good or just the evil in my days?
That night out there in Birmingham
That boy, he tried to rob me
I did not want to, but I had to
Show that boy the real me
[Chorus]
Take me down to the river
With my blood all on the floor
'Cause I don't know if I can carry this weight much longer anymore
Take me up the mountain
On a cloud bound for the sky
Don't go prayin' for me because tonight I'm prepared to die

[Post-Chorus]
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh

[Verse 3]
The dust has now settled
On those boys who busted in
I am not a bad man
But there's bullets in my skin

[Chorus]
So take me down to the river
With my blood all on the floor
'Cause I don't know if I can carry this weight much longer anymore
Take me up the mountain
On a cloud bound for the sky
Don't go prayin' for me because tonight I'm prepared to die