From the recording People's Songs
Written and performed by Ian Reed Merrifield
Edited and mixed by Matthew Strasser
Lyrics
Sunrise on the Day You Die
Old Brown in a prison covered in blood in a Charles Town cell
Bound for the gallows, bound for the gallows not for hell
My grandaddy was a wicked man
Writes a letter to his family, says “I’m gonna be hanged but it ain’t no sin”
He says “Don’t you weep now, don’t weep for me hanging from that limb”
My grandaddy was a wicked man
I won’t feel like I am free until you stand free with me
There is no more perfect sky than sunrise on the day you die
You say you’re a prophet, do you speak for God? “Yes sir, I do.”
“He says ‘Do to others as you’d have others do to you’”
My grandaddy was a wicked man
I won’t feel like I am free until you stand free with me
There is no more perfect sky than sunrise on the day you die