On his outstanding Prodigal Son CD, North Carolina folk and blugrass legend Mike Cross presents us with a high-stepping little ditty called "Bill is in His Grave." Bill, it turns out, was a scoundrel of the first order, and he'd been recently deceased.

The narrator is asked to say a few words at the funeral, a task that proves daunting for a man who'd rather not speak ill of the dead.

He finally manages this:

If Heaven is pleased when sinners cease to sin
If the Devil is pleased when another soul comes in
If the Earth is pleased to be rid of a knave
Then everybody's happy 'cause Bill is in his grave.

(More...)