under Southern heat

i heard Merl sing
after lunch time
on the prison floor
for a red hot dime

he sang real hard
meant what he wrote
about a hanging judge
with a midnight rope

and a dark man
on a wild horse
underneath the tree
being held by force

long time ago
white as a sheet
in a rural land
under Southern heat

laughing at love
smiling at pain
trying to be bad
swinging in the rain

i heard Merl sing
outside his cell
just like Johnny Cash
in a wishing well

he sang real hard
meant what he said
that an outlaws' life
was better than dead

long time ago
white as a sheet
in a rural land
under Southern heat