Look out, Mama, there's a white boat comin' up the river   With a big red beacon and a flag and a man on the rail   I think you'd better call John   'Cause it don't look like they're here to deliver the mail      And they're less than a mile away   I hope they didn't come to stay   It's got numbers on the side and a gun   And it's makin' big waves      Daddy has gone, my brother's out hunting in the mountains   Big John's been drinking since the river took Emmy Lou   So the powers that be left me here to do the thinkin'      And I just turned twenty-two   I was wonderin' what to do   And the closer they got   The more those feelings grew      Daddy's rifle in my hand felt reassurin'   He told me, "Red means run son, numbers add up to nothin'"   But when the first shot hit the docks I saw it comin'      Raised my rifle to my eye   Never stopped to wonder why   Then I saw black   And my face splashed in the sky      Shelter me from the powder and the finger   Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger   Just think of me as one you'd never figured      Would fade away so young   With so much left undone   Remember me to my love   I know I'll miss her