It was just a little while past the sunset strip,
They found the girl's body in an open pit,
Her mouth was sewn shut, but her eyes were still wide,
Gazing through the fog to the other side,
They booked me on a whim and threw me deep in jail,
With no bail, sitting silent on a rusty pail,
Just gazing at the marks on the opposite wall,
Remembering the music of my lover's call,
So you make no mistake,
I know just what it takes,
To pull a man's soul back from heaven's gates,
I've been wandering in the dark about as long as sin,
But they say it's never too late to start again,
Oh when, oh when,
Will the spirit come a calling for my soul's sin,
Oh when, oh when,
Will the keys to the kingdom be mine again?
It was dark as the grave, it was just about three,
When the warden with his key came to set me free,
They gave me five dollars and a secondhand suit,
A pistol and a hat and a worn out flute,
So I took a bus down to the Rio Grande,
And I shot a man down on the edge of town,
Then I stole me a horse and I rode it around,
Til the sheriff pulled me in and sat me down,
He said, you make no mistake,
I know just what it takes,
To pull a man's soul back from heaven's gates,
I've been wandering in the dark about as long as sin,
But they say it's never too late to start again,
Oh when, oh when,
Will the spirit come a calling for my soul to sin,
Oh when, oh when,
Will the keys to the kingdom be mine again?
Well the sheriff let me go with a knife and a song,
So I took the first train up to Oregon,
And I killed the first man that I came upon,
Because the devil works quick, you know it don't take long,
Then I went to the river ford to take a swim,
You know that black river water is as black as sin,
And I washed myself clean as a newborn babe,
And then I picked up a rock for to sharpen my blade,
Oh when, oh when,
Will the spirit come a calling for my soul's sin,
Oh when, oh when,
Will the keys to the kingdom be mine again?
Oh when, oh when,
Will that black river water wash me clean again,
Oh when, oh when,
Will thee keys to the kingdom be mine again,