There's an old green shed
at the end
of an overgrown driveway
And years ago
that shed collapsed and fell
Years before that there
was a withered dog
chained up there
I saved him,
maybe he saved me as well
Now he's gone and I think
I've come undone
And it's midnight
in the city of destruction

There's music in the air
and sweet abandon
They're singin' cross
the farm in the evening breeze
But there's someone in the rows
who's unwanted
And now they've cut
the faithful from the trees
And the bulldozers
move in one by one
It's midnight in the city
of destruction

I lost my guitar, my home,
my hope and my good fortune
I lost my grandfather,
two neighbors and my friend
I pray that God himself
will come
and drown the president
If the levees break again
Now we're standin'
at the crossroads
waitin' for instruction
And it's midnight in the city
of destruction

There's a secret prison
somewhere south of 60
And in that secret prison
there's a secret cell
And the prisoner's
bound and burned,
blinded and beaten
Still that secret prisoner
keeps his secret well
Turn out the lights
'cause for one night
that's enough, son
It's midnight
in the city of destruction