[Verse]

She lights a candle to the black Madonna

She don't care what the Baptists think

She wants something a whole lot stronger

Than a cross hanging on a chain



[Verse]

She wears the ink of a sparrow

On the hand that holds a match

Her words sparkle like flint and silver

She sings is as soft as dust and ash



[Chorus]

Too young ripe, too young rotten

Needles and thread, linen and cotton

May my sins be forgotten

Too young ripe, too young rotten



[Verse]

She feels more years than she has lived

As she hangs her jeans on the bedpost

She shares her breath now only with the darkness

She owns a heart wilder than most



[Chorus]

Too young ripe, too young rotten

Needles and tread, linin and cotton

May my sins be forgotten

Too young ripe, too young rotten

Too young ripe, too young rotten