Granville Automatic - Saint Bethlehem Lyrics

Gus Hyatt robbed a train at the Saint Bethlehem stop in Clarksville, Tennessee in 1897, killing the conductor. He was later sent to prison at the Tennessee State Prison. There, he spent years masterminding a grand prison break that involved shipping dynamite and guns into the prison. In 1902, he succeeded by blowing up one wall of the Gothic stone building, killing several inmates in the process. Gus escaped down the river. He was caught and shot dead in Oklahoma many years later.

We stayed up ’til the clock was tired listening to your alibis
you’re just a boy from a world of train wrecks and sacraments
you destroy the girls and you’re not here by accident
so find out for me what’s outside for me

You found a way to just pretend who you are and where you’ve been
a deck of cards and the guards of the avenues and boulevards
can’t change the stars what’s in the blood of who you are
so count on some cross to find the things you lost

There’s a light by the river tonight
you know this dynamite ain’t on your side still you leave
there’s a sign in the moonlight sky
so you light the fuse and you use the ones who can’t get away

You traded spades for cigarettes you said your love from Louisville forgets
the truth ’cause the gin at Saint Bethlehem
is to blame for the game that we’re all playing
so I’ll hold you close while the world explodes

There’s a light by the river tonight
you know this dynamite ain’t on your side still you leave
there’s a sign in the moonlight sky
so you light the fuse and you use the ones who can’t get away

You traded spades for cigarettes you said your love from Louisville forgets
the truth and the gin are from Saint Bethlehem