Lament For Lester Cousins Lyrics - Corb Lund

music and lyrics by Corb Lund 

Lester Cousins left his brothers on a work truck filled with others 

Cuz his fatherd left his mother years ago 

And Lesters mother took in lovers to feed and clothe his younger brothers 

So at thirteen years our Lester chose to go 

Men introduced him to hard labour, moving earth and stacking hay 

Were all the options that were open to the boy 

And the same men showed our Lester Lady Lucks appeal and blessed her 

With a trusting young disciple to enjoy 

With the gamblin came the drinkin and the cocaine and the sinkin 

That accompanies a man whos falling down 

And pretty soon the fightin and the whoring every night 

And pills and losing left his spirit on the ground 

Well there comes a time when even hardened men need to believe in 

Something more and look within and be afraid 

When a particularly rough night took his friend in one more knife fight 

For the first time in his hard life Lester prayed 

Lester now, Lester now, keep it together, we all want to see you succeed 

Lester now, Lester now, hold it together, cuz your goodness is what the world needs 

Lester now, Lester now, keep it together and dont lose that spirit of yours 

And for the sake of us all, Lester, try not to fall with the weight of the world at your door 

And for the sake of us all, Lester, try not to fall with the fate of the world on the floor 

And for the sake of us all, Lester, try not to fall with the hate of the world as your whore 

Well God led Lester to a lady who was finally worth the wait 

He bought a ring and changed his ways and settled down 

And he farmed his forty acres, raised a daughter, loved his Maker 

Loved his wife and earned respect all through the town 

Hard at work and clean and sober fifteen years come this October 

All the vices of his past had disappeared 

Very little did he know then that the young, out of control men 

That his motherd learned to dread would reappear 

Well his life and home were shattered and his wife and daughter battered 

When the kind he knew so well came back around 

An incontainable aggression induced Lester to regress and 

Coldly murder those whod raped the love hed found 

It didnt take them long to find him or convict him or confine him 

To a cell block full of wounded prisoner doom 

Because despite his mothers will, her Lester Cousins was a killer now 

Whod never live to leave the jailers tomb