[Chorus]

Tragedy's a’comin'

And I cannot step aside

No, I cannot step aside

There's no place to run and hide

Tragedy's a’comin'

And I cannot step aside

No, I cannot step aside

Damn my bastard pride

[Verse 1]

From the middle of nowhere

He rides it all alone

From the edges of somewhere

He's grindin' flesh and bone

From the fringes of darkness

He breathes a steady hand

And the tinges of poison

Come seeping from his glands

[Chorus]

Tragedy's a’comin'

And I cannot step aside

No, I cannot step aside

There's no place to run and hide

Tragedy's a’comin'

And I cannot step aside

No, I cannot step aside

Damn my bastard pride

[Verse 2]

If you ask him nicely

Perhaps he'll go away

Just move politely

And beg him not to stay

With a mouth full of garbage

He spits into your eye

And an ear full of pity

He'll teach you how to die

[Chorus]

Tragedy's a’comin'

And I cannot step aside

No, I cannot step aside

There's no place to run and hide

Tragedy's a’comin'

And I cannot step aside

No, I cannot step aside

Goddamn my bastard pride

[Verse 3]

She stands before us

With a Bible in her grasp

When she opens her mouth up

You can hear the wretched rasp

Like a bucket of barnacles

She's abrasive to the skin

Like the ignorant masses

That hope someday she'll win

[Chorus]

Tragedy's a’comin'

And I cannot step aside

No, I cannot step aside

There's no place to run and hide

Tragedy's a’comin'

And I cannot step aside

No, I cannot step aside

Goddamn my bastard pride

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 4]

Your tragedy's poundin'

Hard against your door

And the cancer's eating

At your inner core

And you're feeling helpless

Can't control the game

Do you fade away softly

Or go out in a ball of flames? 'Cause

[Chorus]

Tragedy's a’comin'

And I cannot step aside

No, I cannot step aside

There's no place to run and hide

Tragedy's a’comin'

And I cannot step aside

No, I cannot step aside

Damn this bastard pride