
Date of issue: 16.04.2019
Record label: Resurfaced
Song language: English
Paul Crump |
In the state of Illinois 'bout nine years ago |
A cold blooded killer he went against the law |
He killed a factory guard when his robbery did fail |
And they caught him and they threw him in the jail |
He lay there in his cell locked up with his hate |
Not many men knew of him and less cared for his fate |
And he knew no peace of mind when his trial was comin' by |
The judge said, «You are guilty you must die.» |
But Paul Crump is alive today |
He’s a-sittin' in a cell, he’s got somethin' to say |
Every man has got something to give |
And if a man can change, then a man should live |
They sent him to Cook County Jail, a jail known far and wide |
Where pity was a stranger and brave men often cry |
They locked him in the death row to count the days before |
To the day they came a knockin' at his door |
But another warden came along, Jack Johnson was his name; |
He knew how prison living could drive a man to shame |
He had no need of pistols for the solitary cells |
When a word of trust would help him just as well |
But Paul Crump is alive today |
He’s a-sittin' in a cell, he’s got somethin' to say |
Every man has got something to give |
And if a man can change, then a man should live |
Between the warden and the convict a friendship slowly grew |
And one learned from the other that a man can live anew |
Then the warden called the convict, «You must leave the devil’s plan |
«The time has come for you to be a man.» |
Then the convict found religion and he started him to learn |
He wrote himself a novel called Burn Killer Burn |
And as his dying day grew near, to the warden he did cry |
«You must pull the switch and I must die.» |
But Paul Crump is alive today |
He’s a-sittin' in a cell, he’s got somethin' to say |
Every man has got something to give |
And if a man can change, then a man should live |
It was up to Governor Kerner to keep him from the grave |
Was rehabilitation a reason to be saved? |
The hour was comin' closer, the word was spread around |
A new and better answer must be found |
Well the electric chair was cheated, the convict didn’t pay |
A new concept of justice was born and raised that day |
Now throughout this peaceful land there are others set to die |
What better time than now to question why? |
But Paul Crump is alive today |
He’s a-sittin' in a cell, he’s got somethin' to say |
Every man has got something to give |
And if a man can change, then a man should live |
Name | Year |
---|---|
I Ain't Marching Anymore | 2008 |
The Bells | 2006 |
Knock on the Door | 2006 |
Power and Glory | 2006 |
The War Is Over | 2002 |
Is There Anybody Here | 2005 |
Cross My Heart | 2005 |
Half A Century High | 2005 |
How Long | 2019 |
Talking Airplane Disaster | 2019 |
There But For Fortune | 2005 |
William Moore | 2005 |
The Party | 2005 |
Pleasures Of The Harbor | 2005 |
Davey Moore | 2005 |
Links on the Chain | 2012 |
Flower Lady | 2001 |
Love Me I'm a Liberal | 1995 |
Cops of the World | 1989 |
I'm Going to Say It Now | 1989 |