Jersey Devil / Lost in the Pine Barrens

by Jim Arkus

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lyrics

Mother Leeds got pregnant with her thirteenth child
And she cursed the baby as the devil’s own
On a stormy night it made its arrival
She saw it and her blood ran cold

Cloven hooves, bat wings
A goat’s head and blood red eyes
It beat it’s mother with a forked tail
Then flew up the chimney into the pines

Something’s there in the Pine Barrens
Jersey Devil, lurking within
Son of the devil, born of a witch
Jersey Devil, lurking within

In 1909, there were hoofprints in the snow
But hounds wouldn’t follow the tracks
They’d pull against their leashes to go home
Whining and whimpering the whole way back

Madness, children rushed inside
Barred windows and locked doors
Unholy screams in the pines at night
Slaughtered cattle found in the morning

Something’s there in the Pine Barrens
Jersey Devil, lurking within
Chthonic terror, you cannot comprehend
Jersey Devil, lurking within

These things were sent as visions to me
In the utter void of this black night
I clutch my rifle, unable to sleep
Shivering as the campfire dies

I hear howling, like a soul in hell
Just as my fever dream ends
The leathery beat of bat wings
Then cloven hooves outside my tent

Something’s there in the Pine Barrens
Jersey Devil, lurking within
You go out alone, never see you again
Jersey Devil, lurking within

credits

released October 1, 2022

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about

Jim Arkus Trenton, New Jersey

All the power, exhaustion, evil, and even black magic of the blues, played on the five string banjo, guitar, and the mountain dulcimer.

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