From the recording The Dealer
Lyrics
Alias Amos Cregg
The bones of Amos Cregg and his flesh have long decayed
Fill my crystal bowl with whiskey, I’ll tell you of his days
He was the first-born of a coal-minin’ man
His daddy was murdered one night out by the railroad tracks
He took his daddy’s lantern and went down into the caverns
Got word from him Ma one day to come home in a hurry
As he stepped into the light of day he heard that shaft explodin’
Over 50 men got buried down in that coal
He said, “Dinah, won’t ya sing for me, sing so high, good lady
“Don’t wanna be a coal miner, I’d rather pick the stars
“Right out of the night, yeah, pick them stars out of the night…”
The Lord had born him lucky, he went north to Kentucky
If he had to shovel coal he’d do it on the railroad
They worked him like a mule, God knows he paid his dues
Not even the mighty ace can take a little bitty deuce
He was the foreman of a gang then he engineered a train
Steady on the throttle, Lord, he never touched the bottle
But one winter in Ohio he derailed on a curve
In the wreck that followed he watched his best friend burn
He said, “Dinah, won’t ya sing for me, sing so high, good lady,
“Don’t wanna be a railroad man, I’d rather melt the steel
“In the Devil’s fire, yeah, melt steel in the devil’s fire…”
In the nineties all the rabble rushed for Colorado
Claimed they’d bust or die to reach the mountains in the sky
Ol’ Amos turned and spurred his horse out West
With a rifle in his saddle, his wife’s picture in his vest
He got a shaker ‘n a jack, some dynamite to blast
As he watched the granite open he’d stand there dumb ‘n hopin’
But the only gold he ever got was in his teeth
He had to drink the melted snow ‘n ate that salty ol’ beef
He said, “Dinah, won’t ya sing for me, so high, good lady
“Don’t wanna be a gold miner, I’d rather rip that rainbow
“Right out of the sky, yeah, rip that rainbow out of the sky…”
He sent back for his family and moved them to the prairie
The land of drought ‘n flood was dreamed into his blood
Ol’ Amos smiled to see his harvest growin’
He said, “Praise you, Lord, I’ve finally found my home…”
But the sky turned red in omen with the dust from Oklahoma
The book closed on his journey with the hot ‘n dirty thirties
One evening they found him fallen down in the road
His heart had finally broken beneath his load
He said, “Dinah, won’t ya sing for me, so high, good lady
“Lay me in the good earth, Lord, I’ve had a lot of this livin’
“Now I’m more’n ready to die, yeah, more’n ready to die…”