Red Right Hand

You take a little walk to the edge of town
Go across the track
Where the viaduct looms like a bird of doom
As it shifts and cracks
Where secrets lie in the border fires
And the humming wires
And when you know you're never coming back
Past the square, past the bridge
Past the mills, past the stacks

On a gathering storm comes a tall handsome man
With a dusty black coat and a red right hand
He'll take you into his arms
Tell you that you're in a good world
He'll rekindle all those dreams
It took you a lifetime to destroy
He'll reach deep into your hole
Heal your shrinking soul
But there won't be a single thing that you can do

He's a god, he's a man, he's a ghost, he's a guru
They're whispering his name through this disappearing land
But hidden in his coat is a red right hand

You don't have no money, he'll get you some
You don't have no car, he'll get you one
You don't have no self-respect
You feel like an insect
Well, don't you worry, buddy
'Cause he'll come to the ghetto
And the barrio and the barrio and the slum
He'll shatter with cash wherever he stands
Packs of green paper in his red right hand

You'll see him in your nightmares
You'll see him in your dreams
He'll appear out of nowhere
But he ain't what he seems
You'll see him in your head
On your TV screen
Hey, buddy, I'm warning you to turn it off

He's a ghost, he's a god, he's a man, he's a guru
You're one microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan
Disband and directed by his red right hand