sweet baby boy rattlesnake in his hand grinnin from the bottom of the cradle i stand like a proud father would who slipped into fatherhood like a trance if a proud father could he would give his boy a fighting chance i m feelin scared i can t remember what for i think there s somethin dark movin under the floor yeah my boy s outta snakes and he s hungry for more but my bones were set broken at birth so i can t move to the door i m begging him please son behave i m doin all i can to save all our ancestors gave and can t you hear them callin you from the grave can t you hear them callin you from the grave oh can t you hear them callin you from tears are wellin up like the tar in his eyes my blood is runnin thick as the fog outside there s a ghost in the corner she s tellin me to run and hide and my boy s eyes are red now and he s growin in size i m begging him please son behave i m doin all i can to save all our ancestors gave and can t you hear them callin you from the grave oh can t you hear them callin you from the grave well can t you hear them callin you from i recall the crooked sound of a music box by my bed and the demons in my daddy s eyes that his crooked smile hid i can see the snakes moving underneath his skin i guess i was faust then but now i m him but now i m him i wake to the whispers of my boy s forked tongue there s a chill in the room makin the spiders run there s a pause like a silent space after you cock a gun and i m thinkin to myself my god what have i done i m askin him son do ya think that you re brave to cast out all that i gave well you can t kill the slaves now because we ll be callin you from the grave yeah we re your ancestral ray yeah we re your ancestral ray 