Eliza Gilkyson
Take Off Your Old Coat
I've searched in the East
Searched in the West
For the riches that others were hoarding

Fortune is a blind god
Smiling in the breeze
And forgetting me on this side of Jordan

Take off your old coat
And roll up your sleeves
Life is a hard road to travel
I believe

Thunder in the dark clouds
Lightening in the trees
No shelter above my head afforded

Battered by the hailstones
Blinded by the breeze
That's my way of life this side of Jordan

Take off your old coat
And roll up your sleeves
Life is a hard road to travel
I believe
See that ragged owl
His tattered wings expanded
He's nailed to the doorway as a warning

So I'm minded by good folk
As an outlaw branded
Yet, I've hurt no one this side of Jordan

Up above an angel
Patching up our plunders
Our trials and troubles he's recording

Will I find a change there
Better times I wonder
When I reach the other side of Jordan

Take off your old coat
And roll up your sleeves
Life is a hard road to travel
I believe
Life is a hard road to travel