My grandpa had a rifle that he took from a Vietcong But he pawned it on a guitar when he got back from Saigon Ever now and then I think about him when I set down to play Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Amazing Grace So let the beat roll on, I'm 'bout to get in the zone I've been locked up all by myself but I'm known to grow my own I burn it till it's gone like there ain't nothing wrong I'm just out in the shade watching the world go up in flames (Up in flames) I was born from barbwire, I been stuck out in the fray I'ma shed this mortal coil like a canebrake rattlesnake I'm gonna feast among the righteous, gonna see my friends again I'ma dance outside the gates, hoping like hell they let me in So let the beat roll on, I'm 'bout to get in the zone I've been locked up all by myself but I'm known to grow my own I burn it till it's gone like there ain't nothing wrong I'm just out in the shade watching the world go up in flames (Up in flames) (Oh, yeah) (Oh, yeah) (Oh, yeah) California's burning, it's snowing in the pines They say the world is ending, well, maybe it's about time Have we forgotten about the children? Forgot about love? Have we forgotten about forgiveness from the good Lord up above? So let the beat roll on, I'm 'bout to get in the zone I've been locked up all by myself but I'm known to grow my own I burn it till it's gone like there ain't nothing wrong I'm just out in the shade watching the world go up in flames (Up in flames) Watching the world go up in flames Watching the world go up in flames (Oh, yeah) (Oh, yeah) (Oh, yeah) (Oh, yeah)

His father was a drinker And his mother cried in bed Folding John Wayne's t-shirts When the swing set hit his head The neighbors, they adored him For his humor and his conversation Look underneath the house there Find the few living things Rotting fast in their sleep of the dead 27 people Even more They were boys With their cars Summer jobs Oh my God Are you one of them? He dressed up like a clown for them With his face paint white and red And on his best behavior In a dark room on the bed, he kissed them all He'd kill 10,000 people With a sleight of his hand Running far, running fast to the dead He took off all their clothes for them He put a cloth On their lips Quiet hands Quiet kiss On the mouth And in my best behavior I am really just like him Look beneath the floorboards For the secrets I have hid

Stopped by that house on Desmond Lake He sittin' in his easy chair Watchin' the Sunday evenin' race Tells me my grandma's in the other room Guess he forgot we laid her down It'll be a year come June Then he mumbles about Vietnam He don't know who the hell I am But the drivers, he tells me who they are I guess he still knows the numbers on the cars Try to get him out like we used to Now I load the truck and I drive the boat 'Cause there ain't much he can do, now Cast him a line and watched it as it sank Thinkin' how we used to talk for hours Now he just stares at the bank He used to know every stop in this fishin' hole Though he probably thinks that we're in Mexico But he knows his way around that boat Even in the dark And he still knows the numbers on the cars Well no he ain't all there But I don't care My mind still full of memories with him And he may not know All the words to the song But he still knows Merle Haggard's voice when he hears it I stopped by that house on Desmond Lake With a couple of tickets To go see the Sunday evenin' race As we watched those cars fly around the track I asked the Lord if just one more time He'd bring my old friend back Then somewhere around lap 23 That old man turned and smiled at me and For a moment I know he knows where we are And he still knows the numbers Yeah he still knows the numbers He still knows the numbers Numbers on the cars Yeah he still knows the numbers