God ain't in his heaven, something ain't right
I hear church bells ringing in the middle of the night
They're dragging a man by his insides
Through the broad daylight
Thieves have their season sure but it's getting on midnight

And the river's gonna rise, it's gonna rise
There'll be dancing in the street when the river done rise

Cold wind is blowing, flags flapping much too slow
The monkey men sell paradise to the girls from tupelo
Black shirted boys in the badlands play machine gun rodeo
The downtown missions packed too tight with folks that got nowhere to go

But the river's gonna rise, it's gonna rise
And there'll be dancing in the street when the river done rise

God ain't in his heaven, something ain't right
The tv newsman smiles and says, "The curfew starts tonight"
They're killing a man from the inside in the broad daylight
While the propped up puppet wags his head
And watches all the proud things die
But the river's gonna rise