Sad Man's Tongue - Live

Volbeat lead singer Michael Poulsen writes all the lyrics for their songs, often coming up with unusual stories based on offbeat characters. In "Sad Man's Tongue," he tells the tale of a man who is imprisoned when he refuses to enter the military. "I wrote it about this guy who is a drifter," Poulsen said in his Songfacts interview. "He is kind of his own spirit, traveling around the world. He's a pretty lonely guy who kind of goes by his own rules. He's a rebel. Until they want to get him into the military, and he's trying everything he possibly can to just stay as a free spirit on the road, because he goes against the weapons and everything."

Johnny Cash, who is mentioned in the lyrics (Leave your Johnny Cash song and get home), inspired this song, which is modeled on his classic "Folsom Prison Blues."