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Reuben James, in my song you live again |
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And the phrases that I rhyme |
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Are just footsteps out of time |
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From the time when I first knew you Reuben James |
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Reuben James all the folks around Madison County |
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Cursed your name |
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Just a no-account share-croppin' colored man |
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Who would steal anything he can |
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And they always laid the blame on Reuben James |
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Reuben James, you still walk the furrowed fields of my mind |
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The faded shirt, the weathered brow |
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The calloused hand upon the plough |
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I loved you then and I love you now Reuben James |
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Flora Gray, the gossip of Madison County died with a child |
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And although your skin was black |
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It was you that didn't turn your back |
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On a hungry white child with no name, Reuben James |
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Reuben James, with your mind on my soul |
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And the Bible in your right hand |
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You said turn the other cheek |
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A better world is a-waiting for the meek |
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In my head those words remain from Reuben James |
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Reuben James, you still walk the furrowed fields of my mind |
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The faded shirt, the weathered brow |
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The calloused hand upon the plough |
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I loved you then and I love you now Reuben James |
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Reuben James one dark cloudy day |
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They brought you from the fields |
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And to your lonely pine box came |
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Just a preacher, me and the rain |
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To sing one last refrain for Reuben James |
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Reuben James, you still walk the furrowed fields of my mind |
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The faded shirt, the weathered brow |
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The calloused hand upon the plough |
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I loved you then and I love you now Reuben James |
