Eric Clapton – Riding With The King

Troubles A’ Comin

Text:
Verse 1
They pulled me out of L.A. dust,
patched my heart and scraped off rust.
Now I’m walking neon miles,
clean hands, but the same old style.

Whiskey ghosts in motel glass,
echoes hum from a sacred past.
But tonight the strip’s a serpent grin,
and she’s there — she’s calling me in.

Chorus
Voodoo grandma in Vegas town,
cards on fire, the wheel spins round.
She laughs like thunder, smells like sin,
said, “Boy, you’re clean, but you’re still thin.”
Her eyes were moons, her hands were drums,
she said, “Even angels bite their tongues.”

(solo)

Verse 2
She told me, “Child, I’ve seen your band,
you preached the storm, but lost the sand.
Now you chase the shimmered lies,
under desert heat and neon skies.”

She threw bones made of radio parts,
read the cracks in my hollow heart.
“Don’t fight the ghosts, just name their names,
and you’ll be free when nothing remains.”

Chorus (repeat)
Voodoo grandma in Vegas town,
cards on fire, the wheel spins round.
She laughs like thunder, smells like sin,
said, “Boy, you’re clean, but you’re still thin.”
Her eyes were moons, her hands were drums,
she said, “Even angels bite their tongues.”

(solo)

Bridge (spoken, Morrison-style trance)
The strip hums like a serpent’s skin,
dice roll like tiny galaxies of sin.
She dances — slow motion —
her shadow crawls through my devotion.
“Vegas ain’t your church, son,” she said,
“but you can still confess in red.”

Outro (sung softly, fading echo)
I kissed her hand, she burned like sage,
smoke rose slow — a holy rage.
Voodoo grandma, bless my stay,
in your city of saints and sinners’ play.

Marry You

Eric Clapton

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