Hot air hangs like a dead man   From a white oak tree   People sitting on porches   Thinking how things used to be      Dark night, it's a dark night   Dark night, it's a dark night      The neighborhood was changing   Strangers moving in   A new boy fell for a local girl   When she made eyes at him      She was young and pretty   No stranger to other men   Open doors were being locked at night   And old lines drawn again      I thought these things   Didn't matter anymore   I thought all that blood   Had been shed long ago      Dark night, it's a dark night      He took her to the outskirts   And pledged his love to her   They thought it was their secret   But someone knew where they were      He held her so close   He asked about her dreams   When a bullet from a passing car   Made the young girl scream      I thought these things   Didn't happen anymore   I thought all that blood   Had been shed long ago      Dark night, it's a dark night   Dark night, it's a dark night