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Lyrics
1.
ORLEANS PARISH PRISON
(Dick Feller)
« © '73 Cyberphonic Publishing, BMI »
Well have you seen my dark haired girl
She was sellin' her love to a hungry world
They got her clothes and the money she took
And they wrote her name in the prison book
Orleans Parish Prison won't you free my dark haired 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 dark haired girl
[ fiddle ]
Well have you seen my green eyed son
He shot a man down with a sort of gun
And they found him down by the ponchartrain
Where they cuffed his hands with a big iron chain
Orleans Parish Prison won't you free my green eyed son
I heard him say as they led him away sorry for what he's done
Orleans Parish Prison won't you free my green eyed son
[ fiddle ]
Well have you missed my brother man
He took a little money with a gun in his hand
Now the kids are hungry and the wife ain't well
And their daddy's locked up in the prison cell
Oh Orleans Parish Prison won't you free my brother man
I know it's sad but he ain't bad he's doin' the best he can
Orleans Parish Prison won't you free my brother man
**********
2.
JACOB GREEN
(Johnny Cash)
« © '73 Song Of Cash Music, ASCAP »
Jacob Green got busted for possession next mornin' early he appeared in court
But he was sent to jail to wait to be tried at some later date
Next mornin' 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 off all his hair today they found him hangin' 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
They'll be locking up another Jacob Green
It happened yesterday...
**********
3.
ME AND BOBBY McGEE
(Kris Kristofferson - Fred Foster)
« © '69 Combine Music, BMI »
Busted flat in Baton Rouge waitin' for the trains feelin' bout as faded as my
jeans
Bobby flagged a diesel down just before it rained took us all the way to New
Orleans
Then I pulled my har'poon out of my dirty red bandana
And was blowin' sad while Bobby sang the blues
With the windshield whipers slappin' time and Bobby clappin' hands we finally
Sang up ever song that driver knew
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin' ain't worth nothin' but it's free
Feeling good was easy while Bobby sang the blues
Feeling good was good enough for me good enough for me and Bobby McGee
From the coal mines of Kentucky to the California sun
Bobby shared the secrets of my soul
Standin' right beside me Lord through everything I done
And every night she'd kerp me from the cold
And then one day near Salinas I let her slip away
Looking for the home I hope she'll find
And I'd trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday
Holdin' Bobby's body close to mine
Freedom's just another word...
**********
4.
PRISONER'S SONG
(Guy Massey)
« © '24 Shapiro-Bernstein Co, ASCAP »
I wish I had someone to love me someone to call me their own
I wish I had someone to live with cause I'm tired of livin' alone
I'll be carried to the new jail tomorrow leavin' my little darling all alone
With the cold prison walls all around me and my head on a pillow of stone
(Make that piano cry Larry Butler)
[ piano ]
If I had the wings of an angel over these prison walls I would fly
I would fly to the arms of my darling and there I'd be willing to die
**********
5.
INVERTEBRAES
(Johnny Cash - Charles Johnston - Gordon Dillingham)
« © '73 House Of Cash, BMI »
Some men spend a lifetime in the hope they can devise
A chart which will an able man then someday analyze
The wretched men who stumble then somehow cannot arise
They'll pay one man to draw the charts another to declare
What secret signs are in the lines but do they really care
That one is long and one is short and one line is not there
For charts or abstract documents that cannot have a soul
They cannot tell why this man fell and that one reached his goal
Nor can they tell why some rebel and lose all self control
I think a thousand years from now as it was long ago
Two roads will be for all to see but which way will man go
Will he arise toward the skies to reach for some new plateau
Will he devise a brave new world a world thus far unknown
Will he plow under all the seeds of greed and hate he sewn
Or will he steal the very field he plants his hopes upon
As long as there are two such roads a man can look upon
As long as some men linger deep within the twilight zone
The weak will always take the road that leads to wall of stone
There should be made a stone blockade torn from the prison stone
And make a wall across all roads man should not walk upon
And let the seeds of bitter weeds grow till that road is gone
Then those who sot in higher power those who hold the might
Could then direct the hordes of men on to the way that's right
And then the men who draw the charts would also see the light
**********
6.
THAT SILVER HAIRED DADDY OF MINE
(Gene Autry - Jimmy Long)
« © '31 Western Music, ASCAP »
In a vine covered shack in the mountains bravely fighting the battle of time
There's a dear one who's weathered life's sorrow it's that silver haired daddy
of mine
If I could recall all the heartaches dear old daddy I've caused you to bear
If I could erase those lines from your face and bring back the gold to your hair
If God would but grant me the power to turn back the pages of time
I would give all I own if I could but atone to that silver haired daddy of mine
[ guitar ]
If I could recall all the heartaches...
**********
7.
CITY JAIL
(Johnny Cash)
« © '73 Song Of Cash Music, ASCAP »
City jail city jail like an old scared dog I tuck my tail
Bow my head and not a careless word is said
Gotta sleep on the floor once more at city jail
Well I was hangin' round the bus station
Mindin' my own business like I always do
When I saw this waitress in this bus station cafe
And I thought I check out the action like I always do
I'd give her the bad eye and made a few choices personal comments
About what I thought mine and her possibilities could be for a team
When she called the badge on me
The badge grabbed me by the arm and he said
What are you doin' hangin' around here for
And I said for whatever's goin' around
City jail city jail...
He said no what I mean is what are you doin'
Sayin' things like that to that lady
And I said what's that lady's doin' with purple hair
Well the badge said you're smart alec and I said no I ain't I'm just hungry
And he said you're actin' like a smart alec
And I said no that's how I act when I get hungry
City jail city jail...
Well he put me outside in a dark corner
And before you could say hypocrite he hit me on the head
And I said oooh don't hit me on the head
I can't protect myself with the handcuffs on
Please don't hit me on the head then he hit me again he hit me again he hit me
again
And I said oh oh oh oh oh please don't stand on my feet when you hit me
I break my ankles when I fall
City jail city jail...
Well about that time they threw me in the wagon
And that waitress walked out with a sailor
I said hey you not you I'm talkin' to the purple people eater
Yes you lady quote you're the cause of it all unquote
Then she said to that sailor said get me away from that horrible man Harry
City jail city jail...
Well as they hauled me away I said everybody have a nice evening
**********
8.
LIFE OF A PRISONER
(Jimmy Lee Wilkerson)
« © '73 House Of Cash, BMI »
He drinks a cup of coffee and way before the sun he's up and goin'
Out on a work detail cause he knows soon the morning whistle will begin to
blowin'
All day out in that hot sun with no reward for any work he'll do
And then he'll come back in the evening
And dreams a lot of dreams that can't come true
This is the life of a prisoner forgotten man that's there to stay
He lives on faith and hope and courage and a few old dreams of yesterday
Well no one cares about him or it seems at way to him as time goes by
One day is like the other and every time he prays he prays to die
He's been there for so long now he wouldn't know how to talk to men outside
And though it's the life he lives for he fears the day the gates swing open wide
This is the life of a prisoner...
He lives on faith and hope and courage and a few old dreams of yesterday
**********
9.
LOOKING BACK IN ANGER
(Glen Sherley - Harlan Sanders)
« © '71 House Of Cash, BMI / Family Arms Publishing, BMI
»
A cold bitter mist covers your eyes torment is raging in you
But you can't change the smallest part of all the wrongs you've done
Looking back in anger like you do
I'm not preachin' I'm just talkin' but I believe in what I say
That look of anger that you keep flashin' won't accomplish you anything today
Reach out your hand someone will take it
Someone took mine then I saw a different view
I saw it'd take take a lot more loving
And a lot less looking back in anger like you do
You're still a victim of the pornographic past
The smutty face of evil showing through
But you can't take away the scars that you put on that face
Looking back in anger like you do
Now I ain't preachin'...
**********
10.
NOBODY CARED
(June Carter)
« © '73 House Of Cash, BMI »
It all started out in Illinois with a woman that I thought was just my own
She saw a new tie and a new shirt kicked her heels and flipped her skirt
Slammed that door and left me standing all alone
They had a love nest in his new club there went my wife all over town
As I watched it I got green and with my drinkin' I got mean
Stuck a match and burned that club right to the ground
And I spent nine months in the hole lyin' there in solitaire
And nobody cared nobody cared nobody cared
There was a screw out in the hall that had me backed up to the wall
Escortin' me with a water pistol in that 36 degrees
With me shiverin' to my knees I ain't gonna forget about that water pistol
If I've been bad you think that'll make me better
If I've been a sinner you think that'll make me a saint no it ain't
Freedom come and I found him made him take off
All his clothes and socks and shoes
Had him scramblin' on the floor tryin' to make it to the door
Cryin' crawlin' screamin' bloody murder too
Well I didn't really kill him though over his whole world there hung a paw
I made him bend over on his knees and to his screams of Owen please
Took my turpentine water pistol and I let him have it all
Cause I spent nine months...
And nobody cared nobody cared nobody cared
**********
11.
HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT
(Kris Kristofferson)
« © '70 Combine Music, BMI »
Take the ribbon from your hair shake it loose and let it fall
Lay it soft against your skin like the shadows on the wall
Come and lay down by my side till the early morning light
All I'm asking is your time help me make it through the night
I don't care what's right or wrong I don't try to understand
Let the devil take tomorrow cause tonight I need a friend
Yesterday is dead and gone and tomorrow's out of sight
And it's sad to be alone help me make it through the night
[ guitar ]
I don't care what's right...
And it's sad to be alone help me make it through the night
**********
12.
I SAW A MAN
(Arthur Smith)
« © '56 Clay Music, BMI »
Last night I dreamed an angel came he took my hand he called my name
He bid me look the other way I saw a man I heard him say
He said if I be lifted up I'll draw all men to me
He turned and then I saw those nail scared hands that bled for me
I touched the hem of his garment that fell round him there
My life my heart I gave my soul was in his care
When I awoke my heart beat so and in the dark I saw a glow
It was no dream he turned my way and again I heard Lord jesus say
He said if I be lifted up...
**********
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