"Devil, Devil (Prelude: Princess Of Darkness)" lyrics - ERIC CHURCH

ERIC CHURCH
"Devil, Devil (Prelude: Princess Of Darkness)"
(Casey Beathard / Eric Church / Monty Criswell)

["Prelude: Princess Of Darkness":]

This town, she is a temptress
A siren with gold eyes
She'll cut you with her kindness
Then she will bleed you with her lies

She's been called a glistening devil
And she's good at keeping score
If you make it, she's your savior
If you don't, she's a whore

The roads to and from her heart are littered with creative souls
They gave all their all
And all they got in return was empty holes

Sure we've all heard about Shel and Kris and Willie and the Bobby Bares
She's smiled on the Johnny's, the Merle's and the many Music Row millionaires

Like a beacon, she goes seeking seed
For her loins so fertile
To a free man, she's a prison
To a caged one, she's a file

She's the reason there's a "Sunday Morning Coming Down"
"I Saw The Light", "Boy Named Sue"
"He Stopped Loving Her Today"
"The Pill" and "16th Avenue"

The Ryman, oh she's a diamond
In the crown of that wicked queen
She was Roy Acuff's castle
And Elvis Presley's broken dream

It's not all bad, it's not all dark
It's not all gloom and crass
But to find gold in this silver mine
It does take balls of brass

For she's seen 'em come, seen 'em go
And came herself a time or two
But no matter how satisfied her screams sound
She always wants someone new
The next him or them or her or all
With stamina to last the night
To be a star in this lady's town
You can f*#k or you can fight

You see, it all comes down to money
Not romantic art from days gone past
If you forget that rule, you can bet your backside
She will bury it in your ass

A tramp, a slut, a bitch, a mutt
A thousand pawn shop guitars
A nasty little needle
To a vein that feeds a singer's heart

She lurks in friendly shadows
But she's a junkie with a limp
The agents are her bookie
And the labels are her pimp

I'll tell you a well-known secret
In a tiny place known far and wide
The devil walks among us folks
And Nashville is his bride

Of all the chaos he has caused and done
His greatest trick is
To every guitar toting dreamer
The devil don't exist

But me, I've shook his hand
And I know that he is real
So devil, you can go screw yourself
And then go straight to hell

["Devil, Devil":]

Devil, devil, I feel you preying on my mind
I got nine things going wrong right now
And her leaving makes a dime
I'm mad as hell, and drunk, and well
Tonight, I guess we'll see
If devil, devil, you're bad enough to lock horns with me

Level, level, in search of solid ground
This swinging, swaying, side to side, is tossing me around
I got a hanker for an anchor to steady up my bow
Level, level, tie this rebel down

Crazy, crazy, calling out my name
I got one foot on the platform and the other's on a train
Save me, save me, I know what's in store
Crazy, crazy hell, I've been there before

Danger, danger, the way you're looking there at me
Be careful what you wish for, you might get what you don't need
I'm a brush fire on a drought land in a Santa Ana breeze
Danger, danger, don't you play around with me

Crazy, crazy, calling out my name
I got one foot on the platform and the other's on a train
Save me, save me, I know what's in store
Crazy, crazy hell, I've been there before

Angel, angel, heavenly body in holy jeans
On second thought, get over here and wrap me in your wings
Throw caution to the wind and honey, give me what I need
Angel, angel, love this devil, devil out of me
Devil, devil, devil

Oooooo, devil, devil
Oooooo, devil, devil
Oooooo, devil, devil