| Sometime ago two people I know
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| They were sittin' in a prison cell
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| Just talkin' of life of its joys of its strifes
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| Of the the good times that life held
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| The kid he told of the jewels and gold
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| To be had while he played the game
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| I’m worried not about the sentence I’ve got
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| You see my future it’s strictly fame
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| Well I used to lay tricks to baffle the dicks
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| I would leave them a clue to find
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| Then I’d beat my retreat on back to easy street
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| All my thoughts of this jail behind
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| Only the characters know what I’m sayin'
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| Only the characters know what I mean
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| Only the characters have any idea
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| Only the characters have seen what I’ve seen
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| Well the old man listened till his dim eyes glistened
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| He said when the kid got through
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| Son you’re young and you’ve only begun
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| But old men have a story too
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| It was late one day on a get-away
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| I had to shoot a young man down
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| It was a jewelry store and I was at the door
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| When the police came around
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| Well I made a draw and so did the law
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| Both our rods spit lead
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| When the smoke had cleared and the scene reappeared
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| One poor young dude lay dead
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| Well I was thrown in jail held without bail
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| Chalked up with first degree
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| I wasn’t so game when my trial day came
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| Electric chair in front of me
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| So I tried to grin but it was useless then
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| My nerves were like the edge of a knife
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| And I held my breath for that verdict of death
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| But they sentenced me here for my life
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| Only the characters know what I’m sayin'
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| Only the characters know what I mean
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| Only the characters have any idea
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| Only the characters have seen what I’ve seen
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| So here I sit son I got my life near done
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| All my hopes and joys have fled
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| And it won’t be long before I join the throng
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| That’s numbered with the dead
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| Yeah that’s numbered with the dead
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| Yeah that’s numbered with the dead
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| Yeah yeah |