DARK AND BLOODY GROUND

This land was ours far as the eye could see
We took it from the Cherokee with a scalping knife
And a white man's disease
When the smallpox ravaged their towns
We came in and burnt them down
And took this dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
I took a prisoner 'cause I needed a wife
I broke her will she gave me a son I spared her life
It was a fate much worse than death
Yeah we were kissed by the devil's breath
Set down on this dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
We'll lay our bodies down
Put 'em six feet in the ground
And when the long cold winter ends
Oh the sun comes shinin' in
The crops will grow again
In this dark and bloody ground
They gave me three hundred dollars
Put a pen in my hand
I was drunk on corn liquor
I signed the rights away to my land
The coal company tore my homestead down
Ripped the black gold from the ground
Left a hole in this dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
If Jesus was born in Kentucky
They'd make him pay for his nails
Worse yet he'd have to work off his debt
Down here in this hell
Where they pay you off in company scrip
And your life it don't mean shit
Just a piece of this dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
I will lay my body down
Put me six feet in the ground
And when the long cold winter ends
The sun comes shinin' in
And the crops will grow again

Co-written by Joe Grushecky and Bruce Springsteen, originally by Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers, from their 1995 album American Babylon. Bruce Springsteen produced this album and participated in its recording. He played guitar and shared harmony vocals on this particular track.

Played 7 times off-tour, in small clubs in 1995, always with Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers:

• 22 Jul 1995 at the Tradewinds, Seabright, NJ
• 17 Oct 1995 at The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ
• 18 Oct 1995 at the Tramps, New York City, NY
• 19 Oct 1995 at The Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
• 20 Oct 1995 at Nick's Fat City, Pittsburgh, PA
• 21 Oct 1995 at Nick's Fat City, Pittsburgh, PA
• 24 Oct 1995 at Park West, Chicago, IL