[Verse 1]
I know I've seen this place before
Lord, can't you hear me screaming?
As a young man long ago
When I was twenty-one

[Verse 2]
And I know I've seen this house before
With people all around it
With my baby cousin on the floor
And Mama in the kitchen

[Verse 3]
And a woman lies upon the bed
I think she must be dying
And I recall the words she said
As she began to cry

[Verse 4]
She begged, "Son, please don't go to Baltimore
And leave me where I'm lying
For you will, son, but I no more
Walk among the living"

[Verse 5]
"And if you go to Baltimore
Then I'll see you in heaven
And as you breathe, I'll breathe no more
And I will surely die"
[Verse 6]
Well, you know I went to Baltimore
So confident and wise
And as I breathed, she breathed no more
And she did surely die

[Verse 7]
And now as I lie upon my bed
I pray I must be dreaming
With faces all around my head
And strangers at my door

[Verse 8]
And a woman's voice calls out to me
"Bring unto you your children
And let them see these things you see
And hear the words you say"

[Verse 9]
"Beg them to go to Baltimore
And leave you where you're lying
Just like you did one time before
When you were twenty-one"

[Verse 10]
"And if they go to Baltimore
Then I'll see you in heaven
And as they breathe, you'll breathe no more
And you will surely die"
[Verse 11]
And I know I've seen this place before
Lord, can't you hear me screaming?
And if I should awaken, Lord
Then answer me my plea

[Verse 12]
What makes the sun set in the west
And birds fly in the sky?
And what makes a woman beat her breast
When her children start to cry?

[Verse 13]
And what makes those little ones grow old
To find eternity?
And what takes the wise
And leaves behind a foolish one like me?