There were letters unopened at the foot of my bed When I woke up with you in the morn There were lions roaring on ships in the harbour The night my true love was born There's a minstrel singing of the holy dove On the mountain of old St Jerome There is glass on the floor of the hallway I walk When the stars bear down from their throne And the old southern cross is shown And it points down the sad road home To the land of the bloody unknown I heard that your mother took off in the fall With her pretty curls and her wooden spoon I heard you whispering to yourself last night She'll be coming home some day soon Well the wine you drink is stained deep in your shirt And just like the sin in my soul It is never ever ever ever coming out While the stars bear down from their throne And the old southern cross is shown And it points down the sad road home To the land of the hunter dancing under the trigger And the bride washing up on the shore I could never really dance that well I can't raise the flags or ring them bells But I can shoot my gun down the line towards my home To the land of the bloody unknown There's a black dog watching over me in my sleep And I stir just to toss him the bone There's a red moon rising on the hills tonight Where the stars bear down from their throne And the old southern cross is shown And it points down the sad road home