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PERFUME, POWDER AND LEAD
William T. Morse

1. We were married in the spring.
She didn't want for anything:
A lovin' husband, a little cabin, close to town,
Workin' hard out on the farm,
Comin' into all her charm,
Until one day, when the stranger came around.

2. It starts to rain. Can't work no more.
Run to the porch, open the door.
To their surprise I realize their little game.
So what was I supposed to do?
Oh, I could tell he'd been with you.
It made me mad and I just couldn't stand the pain.

3. I can't believe what I have done.
I killed them both with daddy's gun
As their bodies lay entangled in our bed.
He was the sheriff's only son.
To me she was the only one.
I smelled the perfume, the powder, and the lead.

4. Well, my body starts to shake,
Begin to think about my fate
As I turn and start to stagger toward the door.
I heard her take her final breath.
I knew my sentence would be death,
And so I threw that smokin' gun onto the floor.

5. Now I sit here in this jail,
And now my life's a living hell
Since that awful dreadful crime I had to do.
All her love she vowed to me.
Another man there'd never be,
And in the end I'll have to die for loving you.

REPEAT VERSE 2.


[Sung by the Lonesome River Band on their album "Finding the Way" (1998) and "Best of the Sugar Hill Years" (2007); and by The Dallas Moore Band on "High on the Hog" (2002).]