Humboldt County from Coyote Wings by Zoe Mulford

Just out of San Quentin in my seven-dollar shoes
on a bus to Humboldt County, one row back of you
I try to get you talking just to pass some time away
and you smile and ask me am I saved

You're going to redwoods, to a rural ministry
to carry Jesus' love to guys a lot like me
You tell me about Bible camp, how you loved it there
and if I lean close, I can smell your hair

and it's a long way to Humboldt County
It's a long, dark ride through the tall, tall trees
You say you're walking with the Saviour
Well, if you keep on talking, girl,
maybe you can save me.

I say my name is Robert, I just turned twenty-one
You wouldn't want to know about the things I've done
There's nothing to go back to but the bridges that I burned
and the life I wrecked cuz I never learned

I tell you a few stories just to see your eyes get wide
Nothing's looked so pretty since I've been inside
I haven't talked to Jesus since the summer I turned ten
but if you held my hand, I could pray again

cuz it's a long way to Humboldt County
It's a long, dark ride through the tall, tall trees
You say you're walking with the Saviour
Well, if you keep on talking, girl,
maybe you can save me.

Oh, hold me close, make me new
It wouldn't be a sin if I was doing it with you
I'm sure that you could make me be a better man
if I could lie down with you like the lion with the lamb

I'll probably be staying with this woman that I knew
Yeah, she was my dealer, what you gonna do?
You could make it different if you'd see me through this night
You could change my path, you could make things right

cuz it's a long way to Humboldt County
It's a long, dark ride through the tall, tall trees
You say you're walking with the Saviour
Well, if you keep on talking, girl, maybe you -
if you keep on talking, baby, talk me through -
if you keep on talking baby, only you
can save me.

© 2012 Zoe Mulford/ SquashFlower (ASCAP)

• Folk
• clawhammer banjo
• neo-traditional
• singer-songwriter
• Manchester