Mama loved him best
You know, Papa favored him too
Well who am I to criticize, brother?
I would have too

Alex was a gentle boy
He did what our mama said
‘Til he felt a chill and wrapped his scarf up tight
‘Round the tree that hung him dead

Climbed that tree as a child
Brother, you and I were wild
See it from my cell instead
Where you were strung up high
I can feel your ghost nearby
Soon to join you in the dead

Oh, once I read the good book
I saw why they’d lay blame
That you were my Abel
But I could never be your Cain
Not your keeper, not my shame
Fault your own hands you were slain

Mama loved him best
You know, Papa favored him too
Well who am I to criticize, brother?
I would have too

Oh, once I read the good book
I saw why they’d lay blame
That you were my Abel
But I could never be your Cain
Not your keeper, not my shame
Fault your own hands you were slain

Mama loved him best
You know, Papa favored him too
By how much I never knew ‘til they testified for you
By how much I never knew ‘til they convicted me for you
By how much, now I know, while I rot here on death row

Forgive me, brother
Tell Jesus hello
Lend me your scarf, brother
I am cold