MATT HILL

Lyrics

Johnny Cash picked up the phone in his Tennessee home
and dialled a number he’d been given
At the end of the line was a man about to die
with no time for the priest but a need to be forgiven

Gary Gilmore said “Hello, I was hoping you might phone.
I guess by now you’ve heard about my crimes.
I killed two Mormon men, for no reason I can give.
Just like the man you shot in Reno, just to watch him die.”

He said I need someone to sing me back home
Someone who understands the pain of being alone
A plaintive cry to cut right to my bones
Warden get me Johnny Cash on the phone

Then he spoke about his mother and a picture on the cover
of a record they always played
Don’t take your guns to town – well I guess I let her down
went off the rails and I could not be saved

And they sang ‘I walk the Line’
Tears welled in Gary’s eyes
All his crimes could be confessed
This was Gary Gilmore’s last request

Will you sing one for Nicole? She’s my heart she’s my soul
She’s the reason I’ve chosen to die
On every word she ever spoke I will hang until I choke
Then saddle up with the Riders in the sky