Words of the song

Now once I was a cowboy ropin’ them steers,
Wronging them women and a-ring-pullin’ beers,
Time inside just part of a career given up to bad behaviour
Part of growin’ up tough on the wrong side of town
Like a thrown out boot from the lost and found
Now I’m sittin’ here watchin’ the clock spin round to an IV date with my saviour.

REFRAIN :
Well you got me for thee robberies, you got me for the cheques,
Criminal trespass and all o’ that mess,
You got me for the burglaries and credit card abuse
But it ain’t what I done put my head in the noose.

I guess I should have known that it was dangerous to deal
With a guy like Ferris when they’ve got you on the wheel
But I ain’t that no good to not want to feel for a guy so sick and hurtin’.
The trade-off was easy, they are at the time,
It meant nothin’ to me and it suited him fine,
And with an alibi stronger than an HT line I was in the clear for certain.

REFRAIN

But when the cops have got a twelve year debt to pay
To Uncle Sam’s great US of A
It sure ain’t the truth gonna stand in the way of a lone-star state attorney.
So I’ll be thinking of the lawyers that don’t defend,
I’ll be thinking of wives and one-time friends,
And thinking of justice’s means to an end as I make that final journey.

REFRAIN

Cos there’s a way out of every rodeo ride,
There’s a way out of love for a man denied,
But there’s nowhere to run when you’re hands are tied by the Texas state redeemer.
Now I was never one to run from a barroom fight,
As a kid I was never afraid of the night,
But I die inside when they turn out the lights on another death row dreamer.

REFRAIN

Sometimes I get to dreaming I’m ridin’ again,
Grippin’ that rig as they open the pen,
Eight seconds away from heaven and all o’ them greenbacks, girls and glory.
But then I get to wakin’ and I know damn’ well
I’m in Livingston dying in a ten foot cell,
An innocent man in a man-made hell
Not a dollar to prove my story.

REFRAIN

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