[Verse 1]
Carrie ran a murderous crew
Dedicated through and through
And the chance to prove they never squandered
And they liked to kill so clean
Save the innocent, kill the mean
But from time to time a bullet wandered

[Verse 2]
Carrie kept her souvenirs
Kept her scrapbook down the years
Of her brave boys, how she cried to read it
And a few fell by the way
Or lost the stomach for the fray
So young blood, it was always needed

[Verse 3]
Carrie noticed him right away
The way his whole body would sway
Like a trawler boy finding his legs ashore
They said he was just nineteen
A head case but his record was clean
Just the kind they were looking for

[Verse 4]
Carrie watched him through the crack
As they teased him behind his back
They called him Little Joe 'cause he scraped the ceiling
And when he was the worse for wear
She took him up the stair
And soon he fell for her brand of healing
[Pre-Chorus]
She said, I'll lie like a rose on your pillow
I will twine the laurel in your hair
I want to smell my love on your fingers

[Chorus]
If you wanna be mine, Little Joe
You must harden your mind, Little Joe
We've got to fight for what is ours
Bring peace to the grave of my brother
Bring peace to the grave of my father
Dry the old eyes of my mother
Little Joe

[Verse 5]
There's a roadblock down the way
Thick with soldiers night and day
They'll hear the noise all the way to Glengarry
If you show you've got the stuff
That you're sworn and brave enough
Then you'll stand tall in the eyes of your Carrie

[Pre-Chorus]
And I will lie like a rose on your pillow
And I will twine the laurel in your hair
I want to smell revenge on your fingers
[Chorus]
Guns are the tongues, Little Joe
The only words we know
The only sound that'll reach their ears
Bring peace to the grave of my brother
Bring peace to the grave of my father
Dry the old eyes of my mother
Little Joe

[Verse 6]
Now Little Joe would've jumped clear
But for the awful fear
Of scraping his knees down there on the gravel
The car was a rolling bomb
Blew all to Kingdom Come
They marvelled how far his boots had travelled

[Pre-Chorus]
Another hero snatched from my pillow
I used to twine the laurel in his hair
I want to smell sacrifice on my fingers

[Chorus]
Guns are the tongues, Little Joe
The only words we know
The only sound that'll reach their ears
Bring peace to the grave of my brother
Bring peace to the grave of my father
Dry the old eyes of my mother
Little Joe
Guns are the tongues, Little Joe
The only words we know
The only sound that'll reach their ears
Bring peace to the grave of my brother
Bring peace to the grave of my father
Dry the old eyes of my mother
Little Joe