Got a hair shirt round my shoulder. Got a cold stew in my spoon
And I'm falling on my head, lifting feet of lead ---
Now it's got me baying at the moon
Well, there's a race on for tomorrow. I'm stretching out
For what might have been
Going to come out from the night, got my second sight ---
Play rough --- you know what I mean
I'm going for the kill. I'm going tooth and nail
Up that dusty hill --- on the rattlesnake trail

Got the law laid down to the left of me. Got the real world to the right
Heading up through the middle with my cat and my fiddle ---
Yeah, looking for a fight
Going to ride hard in bandit country --- on the blind side of the bend
Keep my nose to the wind while the rabbit's skinned ---
Bed down at the journey's end. (Be a rattlesnake.)
I'm going for the kill. I'm going tooth and nail
Up that dusty hill --- on the rattlesnake trail

The rattlesnake trail
I'm going on the rattlesnake trail

Going to be with wolves in winter --- run in angry packs by day
But when you give a dog a bone, he has to be alone ---
Growl, keep the other dogs away
See that thin moon on the mountain. See that cold star in the sky
Going to bring them down --- shake them to the ground ---
Put that apple in the pie. (Be a rattlesnake.)
I'm going for the kill. I'm going tooth and nail
Up that dusty hill --- on the rattlesnake trail