Steve Earle(born January 17, 1955) is a singer-songwriterbest known for his countrymusic and rock 'n roll tinged " alt-country." He is also a published writer, a keen political activist (particularly in protesting against the death penalty in the U.S., as in his song "Ellis Unit One" from the movie Dead Man Walking), and has written and directed a play. Born in Hampton, Virginia, legend has it that a box of Texas dirt, sent by his grandfather, was brought into the delivery room, so that it could be said that the first soil Earle's feet ever touched was Texan. He moved around the U.S. with his parents, before dropping out of school in the 8th grade and heading to Houston, Texas, to explore a career in music. In 1975, he moved to Nashville and worked as a songwriter.
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Elijah's Church Lyrics
Steve Earle
Elijah came to texas
To build his family a home
With his wife and new baby
And what little goods that they owned
Had a good yoke of oxen
And hand tools for clearing the land
And he built him a church
'cause he was a god fearin' man
All of his children when there
Worshiped here through the years
On down to my granddad
He's buried 'bout 40 yards from here
It's where i was baptized
And where i took me a wife
And if i have my say so
That's where i'll rest when it's time
Chorus:
When i'm dead and i'm gone
Won't you carry me home
To that little white church
In my daddy's home town
'cause lord knows i'm some kind of sinner
But i've done come this far
And it's too late for changin'
When this race has been run
Take me back where i came from
And let me return what i took from the ground
When this body won't carry me no further
Take me back
And lay me down
This east texas red dirt
Won't grow much of nothin' they say
'cept tomatoes and peaches
They mostly drill for oil nowadays
And a hired hand named regan
First made me understand
And he told me the red was the blood of my kin in the land
Chorus