15 days ago

Knocking
By James Pullen

Lyrics
...
(Spoken, low and weary.)
Yeah… this one’s for the ones still standin’ when the smoke clears.
Blues in the bones, rap in the blood and rock in my soul,
this is Pullenboy Music.

*(Slow, mournful guitar slides in, harmonica wails like a midnight train)*

**Verse 1**
Mama, I gotta wipe the dust off my boots, I been walkin’ these backroads too long,
Carried this nightmare on my hip like a curse, singin’ the same ol’ song.
Badge on my chest turned cold as the grave, lawman or outlaw, doesn't matter when you're dead.
he's taking my soul and left me in dread.
Every trigger I pulled left a ghost in the wind, knockin’… screaming unlock the door and let me in.

*(beat drops, sparse kick drum like a heartbeat)*
I traded my soul for a fistful of justice, now the reaper’s collectin’ the fee,
Bullets don’t care if you wear black or white, they just write your name on the tree.
Sun settin’ red like the blood on my hands, shadow stretchin’ six feet four—

**Chorus**
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
oh I'm
I'm Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
yeah yeah yeah

**Verse 2** *(rap flow, half-spoken, harmonica answers every bar)*
I was born in the cotton, raised in the flame, mama prayed I’d be more than a name,
But the streets taught me lessons the preacher won’t claim—survival’s a sin, guilt’s the same.
Got a son and daughter in North Dakota, they got eyes like the moon, ain’t seen them since they was babies, now they're grown. I'll probably never see them and that's okay. I hope they know that I love them anyway.
Every dollar I bleed from these midnight runs just buys me one knock more.
Steel in my spine, but my knees hittin’ floor, whisperin’ “Lord, what’s this war for?”
Devil laughin’ in the rearview mirror, sayin’ “Boy, you already crossed that shore.”

*(guitar solo: weeping bends, like cryin’ without tears)*

**Bridge** *(spoken over soft organ, almost a confession)*
Feels like… I put that gun down yesterday, but it’s still smokin’ in my hand.
Ain’t no angel waitin’, just a long black train… and no chance at the promised land

**Verse 3** *(slow rap, voice crackin’)*
Mama, take this badge, melt it to gold, bury it deep where the river runs cold,
Tell my baby girl her daddy tried to fold, but the cards were marked long before he was old.
and tell my sons, to be good men.
don't never let nobody tilt your hand.
be honest and true.
and know that my children i will always love you
I hear them gates creakin’, chains in the breeze, St. Peter checkin’ his list with a frown,
But if mercy’s a bullet, then load me one more—I’m ready to lay my burden down.

*(final chorus, choir of ghosts in the background)*
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
oh I'm
I'm Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
yeah yeah yeah

*(harmonica fades, last guitar note rings like a church bell at dawn)*

(Spoken, low and weary.)
yeah I'm knocking on them doors.
begging God to let me in.
but my voice only echos, like a whisper in the wind.
and the Reaper saying, you can't go in.

Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
oh I'm
I'm Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
yeah yeah yeah
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
oh I'm
I'm Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
yeah yeah yeah yeah