[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