It should have been so soft   This morning as we left   But the valley was infected   By a different kind of beauty   And the Indians they knew   It was a devil's sanctuary      Out of this unholy dawn   A car came stirring up the sand   And a woman from a passion play   Held up the limousine that brought me   All this way today      And I didn't need to turn around so strong   Was the message   And the man who planned her life   Commanded all that followed      Well they bellowed, and they hollered   And they threw each other down   Down in this valley   This cruel and lovely valley   Oh it should have been an alley   In some low down part of town      As the lights came up   There was no sun   And brandy splattered all over the ground   As this woman with her head held high   Yelled love and why oh why   You're killing me, oh follow me   As I watched safe and clean   From the frosted windows of my limousine      Well they bellowed and they hollered   And they threw each other down   Down in this valley   This cruel and lovely valley   Oh it should have been an alley   In some low down part of town      Before he'd been so funny   Imagining the best   That he'd escape recrimination   For abandoning the nest   He'd been joking and stoned   While he was entertaining me   But then turned and was stunned   By her panic and her misery      And I was in the get-away car   Giving him a chance, to get away   Get away, get away      And how the valley smoked   As he crossed Route 25   With his cymbals and his shattered crown   Leaving all alone   His eyes fixed on the ground   And he didn't need turn around so strong   Was the message   And he fell into the shallow sky   And was swallowed      Well they bellowed and they hollered   And they threw each other down   Down in this valley   This cruel and lovely valley   Well it should have been an alley   In some low down part of town