False Accuser’s Lament

[Verse 1]
I said I'd seen the killin'
And could identify the felon
Who shot a man beneath the town hall [floor?]

[Verse 2]
I was one of few
The jury never knew
Lied to line our pockets with the banker's jealous gold

[Verse 3]
He said his lovin' woman sinned
Let alone with a friend
He couldn't have his children's mother shamed

[Verse 4]
Who I saw shoot and run
Could've been anyone
But for the price of a new plow a local man was framed

[Chorus]
Now the nightly terror is the portion to be paid
I hear the guilty gavel, I see his body sway
Father, please forgive me for I've falsely testified
They had me swear upon a Bible and I lied

[Verse 5]
I never strayed before
But the pain of being poor
Lord, what the hell came over me?

[Verse 6]
This ain't who Mama raised
Another dollar-fearin' slave
But the thought of losing all our land was blinding, you see

[Chorus]
Now the nightly terror is the portion to be paid
I hear the guilty gavel, I see his body sway
Father, please forgive me for I've falsely testified
They had me swear upon a Bible and I lied

[Verse 7]
The seeds had all been sown
Soon the crops were nearly grown
But the rain let up, the ground turned hard as nails

[Verse 8]
That banker took my home
Now I'm in these hills alone
Oh, from time to time I see his wife in a long black veil

[Chorus]
Oh how the nightly terror is the portion to be paid
I hear the guilty gavel, I see his body sway
Father, please forgive me for I've falsely testified
They had me swear upon a Bible and I lied
Father, please forgive me for I've falsely testified
They had me swear upon a Bible and I lied