See the father's barn burning   Watch as the flames   Illuminate the sky   See the boy who set the fire   Watch the barn burning   In his eyes in his eyes   Hear the cattle calling out   Into the night   They crowd against the fence   Until it breaks   And as it breaks   The arson shakes   Know that it's life   And nothing more      See the boy obey the father   Stuffing the crying   Kittens in a sack   Hear the father curse the boy   And whip him with a switch   Across the back across the back   See them standing on   The bridge at twilight   They tie it to a rock   And let it go   And through the tears   It disappears   And now he knows   It's life and nothing more      And through the tears   It disappears   The path is cut the way is clear   It's up the stairs   And through the door   He finds the matches in a drawer   Into the barn he lights the hay   It catches quick   Can't find his way   Through the burning ash   And blinding smoke   He stumbles and begins to choke   A just reward a settled score   And now he knows   It's life and nothing more