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I hear the train a comin'
It's rolling round the bend And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when, I'm stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps draggin' on But that train keeps a rollin' on down to San Antone.. When I was just a baby my mama told me "Son, Always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns." But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die When I hear that whistle blowin', I hang my head and cry.. I bet there's rich folks eating in a fancy dining car They're probably drinkin' coffee and smoking big cigars. Well I know I had it coming, I know I can't be free But those people keep a movin' And that's what tortures me... Well if they freed me from this prison, If that railroad train was mine I bet I'd move it on a little farther down the line Far from Folsom prison, that's where I want to stay And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away... |
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Mr Garfield been shot down shot down shot down Mr Garfield been shot down low
Me and my brother was down close to the depot when I heard the report of a pistol My brother run out and come back in all excited And I said what was it and he said it was the report of a pistol and then he said Mr Garfield been shot down shot down shot down Mr Garfield been shot down low Lord I knew the President was supposed to be at the depot that day And we just would't believe that he's shot But we'd run over there and there was so many folks around That we couldn't see him but some lady was standin' there cryin' And I said m'am what was it that happened m'am and she said Mr Garfield been shot down shot down shot down Mr Garfield been shot down low Well everybody drifted off toward home finally And they looked like they felt about as bad as I did But in a few weeks I heard that the President was still alive And I told my brother I said let's get on that train and go to where he's laid up hurt Well when we got to his big house up there I asked the fellow I said who was it that did it who was it that shoot the President And he said it was Charlie Guiteau that shoot Mr Garfield and I said Charlie Guiteau done shot down a good man good man Charlie Guiteau done shot down a good man low I heard some fellow there that had been in the house to see the President And I sidled up him to listen to what he was tellin' and he said Mrs Lucretia Garfield was always at his side In the heat of the day fannin' him when he was hot He said that just that day the President said to Mrs Lucretia He said Crete honey (he called her Crete) Said if somethin' worse happens to me after awhile you get yourself a good man And Mrs Lucretia said James (she called him James) She said I won't hear to that now she said I love you too much but he said You'll make some good man a good wife good wife You'll make some man a good good good wife (Don't pull in single harness all your life good gal Don't pull in single harness all your life) That's what he said don't pull in single harness all your life Well a few days later I come back to where the President was restin' And it seems everybody was cryin' The flag was hangin' halfway up to the flagpole in front of the house And everybody looked so sad and I asked a soldier boy there And I said is is is Mr Garfield and he said yeah he's gone Gonna lay him in that cold lonesome ground down low Gonna lay him in that cold lonesome ground Well they laid the President by that long cold branch Mr Garfield's been laid down low Mr Garfield has been shot dow Mr Garfield's been shot (Mr Garfield been shot down shot down shot down Mr Garfield been shot down low) |
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Orleans Parish Prison
Well, have you seen my darkhaired girl? She was set on her love to a hungry world They got her clothes anA the money she took And they wrote her name in the prison books Orleans Parish Prison won't you free my darkhaired girl? She's tired and cold and you got the gold She took from a hungry world Orleans Parish Prison won't you free my darkhaired girl? Well have seen my green eyed son? He shot a man down with a sawed off gun And they fond him down by the Pontchartrain Where they cuffed his arms with a big iron chain Orleans Parish Prison won't you free me green eyed son? I heard him say as you let him away Sorry for what he's done Orleans Parish Prison won't you free me green eyed son? Well have you missed my brother man? He took a little money with a gun in his hand Know the kids are hungry and the wife ain't well And the daddy's locked up in a prison cell Orleans Parish Prison won't you free my brother man? I know it's sad but he ain't bad He's doing the best he can Orleans Parish Prison won't you free my brother man? |
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Early one mornin' while makin' the rounds
I took a shot of cocaine and I shot my woman down I went right home and I went to bed I stuck that lovin' .44 beneath my head Got up next mornin' and I grabbed that gun Took a shot of cocaine and away I run Made a good run but I run too slow They overtook me down in Juarez, Mexico Late in the hot joints takin' the pills In walked the sheriff from Jericho Hill He said Willy Lee your name is not Jack Brown You're the dirty heck that shot your woman down Said yes, oh yes my name is Willy Lee If you've got a warrant just a-read it to me Shot her down because she made me slow I thought I was her daddy but she had five more When I was arrested I was dressed in black They put me on a train and they took me back Had no friend for to go my bail They slapped my dried up carcass in that county jail Early next mornin' bout a half past nine I spied the sheriff coming down the line Up then he coughed as he cleared his throat He said, "Come on you dirty heck into that district court" Into the courtroom my trial began Where I was handled by twelve honest men Just before the jury started out I saw that little judge commence to look about In about five minutes in walked the man Holding the verdict in his right hand The verdict read in the first degree I hollered, "Lawdy Lawdy, have mercy on me" The judge he smiled as he picked up his pen 99 years in the Folsom pen 99 years underneath that ground I can't forget the day I shot that bad bitch down Come on you've gotta listen unto me Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be |
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Ten years ago on a cold dark night,
someone was killed 'neath the town hall lights. There were few at the scene, but they all agreed, that the slayer who ran looked a lot like me. Chorus ~ She walks these hills, in a long black veil. She visits my grave, when the night winds wail. Nobody knows, nobody sees, nobody knows, but me The Judge said son, what is your alibi, if you were somewhere else, then you won't have to die. I spoke not a word, though it meant my life, for i'd been in the arms of my best friend's wife. Chorus* Now the scaffold is high, and eternity's near. She stood in the crowd, and shed not a tear. But some times at night, when the cold wind moans In a long black veil, she cries over my bones Chorus ~ She walks these hills, in a long black veil. When the cold winds blow, and the night winds wail. No body knows, no body sees. No body knows, but me. |
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They had a warrant out for me all over the country
And I was trying to beat the raps in Idaho I was breaking into a schoolhouse Sunday morning without warning When I saw the sheriff coming for me slow from down below His steel grey eyes were blazing when he saw me His hand was on his gun when he rode up He said you killed that woman I know you shot her why'd you do it I'm taking you to Austin then I'm gonna lock you up Well he tied me with a plow line the next morning And he had me deep in Texas the next day A crazy screaming lynch mob waited in the streets of Austin But he put me in the jailhouse and he threw the key away [ ac.guitar ] A jury found me guilty three months later twelve evil men with murder in their eyes They even took me out and said now show us where you killed her And that wicked judge said now I here by sentence you to die But here I am far away from Austin prison my friend the jailer handed me a file Now all I want between me and there are a lot of friendly people And miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles |
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Last time we were here at Folsom Prison
they were hanging Joe Bean Is Joe still here...Joe Bean? Hang the son of a bitch anyways, right? Well, they're hanging Joe Bean this morning for killing a man in Arkansas Funny thing about it Joe Bean has never been to Arkansas On top of that, Joe Bean never heard of the man In fact, today is Joe Bean's twentieth birthday See through the prison bars Joe Bean, see where the gallows stand Just twenty short years from the day you were born you died by the hangman's hand. Yes, they're hanging Joe Bean this morning for a shooting that he never did He killed 20 men, by the time he was 10, he was an unruly kid. Yes, they're hanging Joe Bean for the one shooting that Joe Bean never did. Well, Joe - your mother is at the Capitol asking the governor for a stay And it's hard on her 'cause she knows where you were, on that particular day You were working Joe Bean, hard working, robbing the Santa Fe. Well, the telegraph wires are humming Here, the governor's words come through He said, "I can't set you free, it's not up to me, but there's much, Joe Bean, I'll do I'll join your mother in extending Birthday greetings to you Happy Birthday, Joe Bean." |
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Bring a drink of water Leroy bring a drink of water (no)
If I could get to mercy man he's give me some I know I got a gal in Vickburg Bertha is her name Wish I's tied to Bertha instead of this ball and chain I'm goin' to Memphis (that's right Lord) yeah (uh huh) But dues took all my money wouldn't let me see the cards I owen the boss about a hundred years for sleepin' in his backyard I'm goin' to Memphis (yeah Memphis) yeah I'm goin' to Memphis (now) Like a bitter weed I'm a bad seed but when that levee's thru and I am too Let the honky tonk roll on come mornin' I'll be gone I'm goin' to Memphis yeah Memphis I never been to Chicago but it must be a mighty fine place (that's right) I couldn't get past Tennessee with Mississippi all over my face (uh huh) I'm goin' to Memphis (that's right Lord Memphis) Well the freezin' ground at night is my own foldin' bed Polk salad is my bread and meat and it will be till I'm dead Well I brought me a little water in a Mr Prince Albert can But the bossman caught me drinkin' it and I believe he broke my hand (hm hm) They all call me crazy for sassin' Mr Scott My brother was killed for a deed I did but I disremember what (yeah) Well another boy is down the shovel burned him out Let me stand on his body to see what the shoutin's about I'm goin' to Memphis yeah I'm goin' to Memphis hmm Like a bitter weed... |
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My name is Joe Roberts, I work for the state
I'm a sergeant out on Perenville barracks number 8 I've always done an honest job, honest as I could Got a brother named Frankie, Frankie ain't no good Ever since we were young kids, it's been the same come down I'd get a call on the short wave, Frankie's in trouble downtown Well, if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away But sometimes when it's your brother, you look the other way Yeah, me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood Takin' turns dancin' with Maria while the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood" I catch him when he's strayin', like any brother should Man turns his back on his family, he ain't no good Well, Frankie went into the army back in 1965 I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wife But them wheat prices kept on droppin', 'til it was like we's gettin' robbed Frankie came home in '68, and me, I took this job Yeah, me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood Takin' turns dancin' with Maria while the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood" I catch him when he's strayin', teach him how to walk that line Man turns his back on his family ain't no friend of mine The night was like any other, I got a call 'bout a quarter to nine There was trouble at a roadhouse out on the Michigan line There was a kid on the floor, lookin' bad, bleedin' hard from his head There was a girl cryin' at a table, it was Frankie, she said I ran out and I jumped in my car, then I hit the lights I must have done about a hundred and ten to Michigan County that night It was down by the crossroads, out by willow bank Seen the Buick with Ohio plates, behind the wheel was Frank Well, I chased him through them county roads, 'til the sign said Canadian border five miles from here Pulled over to the side out the highway, watched the taillights disappear Yeah, me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood Takin' turns dancin' with Maria while the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood" I catch him when he's strayin', like any brother should Man turns his back on his family, he ain't no good |
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Jacob Green got busted for possession
Next morning early he appeared in court But he was sent to jail to wait to be trialed at some later date Next morning early, there came a sad report At the jail they took away his clothes to shame him And to make sure Jacob Green had no pride left They cut of all his hair today they found him hanging there Afraid to face the day he killed himself It happened yesterday and if you turn your head away Somewhere in some dirty hole the scene will be rerun Not only Jacob Green, but many more you've never seen It could be someone that you love gets done Like Jacob Green got done It could be someone that you love gets done Like Jacob Green got done Jacob's father hired a team of lawyers Inspections and long inquiries were held The sheriff then retired and the papers said two guards were fired They put a brand new coat of paint on Jacob's cell But like a tomb that looks so white and shiny Inside you'll find corruption never seen And somewhere out there tonight in a dirty cell without a light There will be locked up another Jacob Green It happened yesterday and if you turn your head away Somewhere in some dirty hole the scene will be rerun Not only Jacob Green, but many more you've never seen It could be someone that you love gets done Like Jacob Green got done It could be someone that you love gets done Like Jacob Green got done |
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There's a lot of strange men in cell block ten
But the strangest of em' all Was a friend of mine who spent his time Starin at the wall... Starin at the wall... In his hand was a note that his gal had wrote Proving crime don't pay Was the very same gal he robbed and stole for Wanting thier wedding day... Wanting thier wedding day... As he looked at the wall So strong and tall I heard him softly curse Nobody at all ever climbed that wall But I'm gonna be the first... I'm gonna be the first... Then the warden walked by and said son don't try I'd hate to see you fall Cause there is no doubt they'll carry you out If you ever touch that wall... If you ever touch that wall... Well a years gone by since he made his try But I can still recall How hard he tried and the way he died But he never made that wall... He never made that wall... Well there's never been a man who shook this camp But I knew a man who tried The newspapers called it a jailbreak plan But I know it was suicide... I know it was suicide... |
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