Yeah, when I was only 17,

I could hear the angels whispering


So I droned into the words and


wondered aimlessly about till

I heard my mother shouting through the fog


It turned out to be the howling of a dog


or a wolf to be exact.

The sound sent shivers down my back


but I was drawn into the pack.


And before long, they allowed me

to join in and sing their song.


So from the cliffs and highest hill, yeah


we would gladly get our fill,

howling endlessly and shrilly at the dawn.


And I lost the taste for judging right from wrong.


For my flesh had turned to fur, yeah

And my thoughts, they surely were turned to


instinct and obedience to God.




You can wear your fur


like the river on fire.


But you better be sure

if your makin' God a liar.


I'm a rattlesnake, babe,


I'm like fuel on fire.

So if you're gonna' get made,


don't be afraid of what you've learned.




On the day that I turned 23,


I was curled up underneath a dogwood tree.


When suddenly a girl

with skin the color of a pearl,


wandered aimlessly,


but she didn't seem to see.

She was listenin' for the angels just like me.


So I stood and looked about.


I brushed the leaves off of my snout.

And then I heard my mother shouting through the trees.


You should have seen that girl go shaky at the knees.

So I took her by the arm


we settled down upon a farm.

And raised our children up as

gently as you pleased.




And now my fur has turned to skin.


And I've been quickly ushered in

to a world that I confess I do not know.

But I still dream of running careless through the snow.


An' through the howlin' winds that blow,

across the ancient distant flow,

it fill our bodies up like water till we know.




You can wear your fur

like the river on fire.


But you better be sure

if your makin' God a liar.

I'm a rattlesnake, babe,

I'm like fuel on fire.


So if you're gonna' get made,

don't be afraid of what you've learned.