Well, my mama used to tell me She said flies was the devil's ears and eyes Oh, my mama used to tell me Said flies was the devil's ears and eyes And if you was to see a crow on a chimney Meant someody's fixin' to die I looked up on our shack late one day I saw a crow on a stove pipe I looked up on our shack late one day I saw a crow perched on a stove pipe Daddy come runnin' in, said "Gather everybody up them clouds outside's tornado ripe" We was runnin' to the cellar When it began to rain and hail We was runnin' to the cellar When it began to rain and hail The sky was black and jade now And them clouds had grown a tail We was hunkered down in the darkness And outside was a fitful sound We was hunkered down in the darkness And outside was a fitful sound It was if God himself was belchin' and growlin' And spittin' on the ground Now mama was cryin', daddy was cussin' Little sister, she just snifflin' Oh, mama was cryin', daddy was cussin' Little sister, she just snifflin' We come out that hole in the ground And all directions of the compass was death and kindlin' Oh, we come out that hole in the ground And all directions of the compass was death and kindlin'