Keep to running water, where it’s clean and crystal clear The tide won’t pull you under, it’s the belly full of beer And in that still water is the ghost of Jimmy James Who was raped by his three uncles and beaten to the grave They cut his belly open and they filled it up with stones And then tossed it in still water as if just a bag of bones But Jimmy James body would not sink No Jimmy James stayed floating, you could almost see a smile Behind his bloody face and in his bloody lifeless eyes His uncles they threw bottles, all the stones that they could find As if more holes in his body, would mean he would sink in time They shook their fists at heaven and they stamped their feet at hell And they cursed that still water and the tide that wouldn’t swell But Jimmy James body would not sink They tried to throw a rope out to try and fetch him in But the rope just wouldn’t hold, so one uncle said he’d swim He made it out to Jimmy James paddling like a dog He tried to rest upon the boy but the boy he was no log So they both slowly went under but only one came up And on the banks the uncles cursed their rotten luck Still Jimmy James body would not sink One brother said to the other, “I won’t leave our brother there.” As he slowly waded out, his brother pulling at his pants He dived down once and came back up, his brother in his arms But he had no breath or strength left, so they both went back under As they went beneath the surface, their brother called their names As he paced along the bank, the still water smoothed again And on Jimmy James he lay the blame The final uncle stood there shouting curses up at God He clawed at his skin till his nails filled with blood He walked out in that water with pockets full of stones And the last thing that he saw was Jimmy’s body still afloat