Coffin Nails

[Verse 1] Something from the dark came down the night John Rufus died It landed on the window sill and there it cried all night We could not see the shape of it, wailing filled the air We knew not what it looked like but we knew why it was there [Chorus] I weigh my deeds on my father's scales And I balance them with coffin nails [Verse 2] I'd moved off of the family farm in 1954 I was in and out of Fort Roots since I came back from the war He died on the Ides of March just before the dawn Mama stayed up with him 'til that howling thing was gone [Chorus] I wеigh my deeds on my father's scales And I balance thеm with coffin nails [Bridge] The things we carried in war The things we carry now Every ounce added up Can't seem to set them down I can't seem to set 'em down [Verse 3] Something from the dark came down, I still hear its song Did it follow from the old world? Had it been here all along? The banshee didn't seem to bother when it was wartime Too much death and sorrow, too many people crying [Chorus] I weigh my deeds on my father's scales And I balance them with coffin nails I weigh my deeds on my father's scales And I balance them with coffin nails