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