Appalachian Angels

I said farewell to preacher, I said goodbye to sin
I made my mother teary and cashed my Bible in
But how could I forget you, oh God I try to leave
When the angels howl at midnight with the wind in the eaves

I see them in the creek beds where the catfish do sleep
I watch them strumming banjos while their flaming eyes weep
And when I meet my sweetheart out behind the bales of hay
Angels tinker with the tractor broken down by the way

Leave me angels, perfect angels, angels terrible to see
I want no part in God, for what God could want me
But even while I turn my face from thy staff and thy rod
I hear Appalachian angels sing the praises of God

When I walk the mountain hollers hoping nothing for to hear
Oh the silence is a hymn that they hum in my ears
Every mouthful of moonshine is a draught of blessed blood
Angel tears will drown the valleys with the spring meltwater flood

I will catch a train to northbound, ride it through the dark of night
I will work that godless steel mill where the smoke blots holy light
But even there I see them raising wings of prayer and cable wire
I see Appalachian angels shoveling coal into the fire

Leave me angels, perfect angels, angels terrible to see
I want no part in God, for no God could want me
But even while I turn my face from thy staff and thy rod
I hear Appalachian angels sing the praises of God