“And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder:
“One of the four beasts, saying ‘Come and see,'” and I saw;
“And behold, a white horse.”
There’s a Man going around taking names
And He decides who to free and who to blame
Everybody won’t be treated all the same
There’ll be a golden ladder reaching down
When the Man comes around
The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the terror in each sip and in each sup
Will you partake of that last-offered cup
Or disappear into the Potter’s ground
When the Man comes around?
Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singing
Multitudes are marching to the big kettledrum
Voices calling, voices crying
Some are born and some are dying
It’s Alpha and Omega’s Kingdom come
And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It’s hard for thee to kick against the pricks
‘Til Armageddon no shalam, no shalom
Then the father hen will call his chickens home
The wise men will bow down before the throne
And at His feet they’ll cast their golden crowns
When the Man comes around
Whoever is unjust let him be unjust still
Whoever is righteous let him be righteous still
Whoever is filthy let him be filthy still
Listen to the words long written down
When the Man comes around
Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singing
Multitudes are marching to the big kettledrum
Voices calling, voices crying
Some are born and some are dying
It’s Alpha and Omega’s Kingdom come
And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It’s hard for thee to kick against the pricks
In measured hundred-weight and penny-pound
When the Man comes around
“And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts,
“And I looked, and behold, a pale horse;
“And its name that sat on him was Death,
“And Hell followed with him.”
–Johnny Cash, “The Man Comes Around”