Sittin' and cryin' neath the Cottonwood tree Rattlin' your chains wondering when you'll be free No use tryin' to make sense of it all Cause there ain't no tellin' when the hammer gonna fall Flesh and spirit and muscle and bone No matter who loves you you go alone You can beat your fists against the wall But there ain't no tellin' when the hammer gonna fall Who gonna save you? Where you gonna run? What will you put your faith in? Will you be reaching for a bible or a gun? Wind and water and earth and seed You'll be working in a field with a family to feed You can break your back for any hope at all But there ain't no tellin' when the hammer gonna fall Who gonna save you? Where you gonna run? What will you put your faith in? Will you be reaching for a bible or a gun? Religion and power and bullets and blood They tell who to kill and they tell you who to love You can beat your fists against the wall But there ain't no tellin' when the hammer gonna fall Now your sittin and cryin' neath the Cottonwood tree Rattlin' your chains wondering when you'll be free Ain't use trying' to make sense of it all There ain't no tellin' when the hammer gonna fall