Lyrics Used to Be a Cop - Drive-By Truckers

Used to Be a Cop

Used to be a cop, but I got to be too jumpy
I used to like to party till I coughed up half a lung
Sometimes late at night I hear the beat a-bumping
I reach for my holster and I wake up all alone
Used to have a wife but she told me I was crazy
Said she couldn’t stand the way I fidget all the time
Sometimes late at night I circle round the house
I look through the windows and I dream that she’s still mine
I got scars on my back from the way my Daddy raised me
I used to have a family until I got divorced
I’ve gone too far from the things that could save me
I used to be a cop, but they kicked me off the force
I used to be a cop, till they kicked me off the force
Used to have a car, but the bank came and took it
Paying for a house that that bitch lives in now
Children that we had won’t even look at me
Guess there’s nothing left to lose, nothing matters anyhow
Got a scar on my arm from the bullet that once grazed me
I keep it in a box to remind me where I’ve been
That thin blue line was the only thing that could save me
I used to have a badge but they made me turn it in
And I used to play football, but I wasn’t big enough for college
But I passed the entrance exam first try, and on my way
Police Academy gave me the only thing I was ever good at
But my temper and the shakes, and they took that thing away
Used to have a wife, but she just couldn’t deal
With the anger and the tension that was welling inside of me
Sometimes late at night, I circle round the house
I look through the window and I remember how it used to be
I look through the windows and I remember how it used to be