Johnny 99 lyrics

My name is Joe Roberts I work for the State

I'm a sergeant out on Perenville barracks No 8

I've always done an honest job honest as I could

Got a brother named Frankie Frankie ain't no good
Ever since we were young kids it's been the same come down

I'd get a call on a short way Frankie's in trouble downtown

But if it was any other man I'd put him straight away

Saw a girl in Tampa I asked her for a date

She said baby I'm a sailor this thing better waits

I said I don't believe you would you show me some proof
She showed me her tattoo then I knew that that's the truth

Met a woman on a highway by the exit sign

You'd bet your last dollar that she was forty-nine

But she swored to me that she was still in her youth

Coleman Bonner was a fiddle playin' fool

He's a backwoods rounder and a breaker of mules

Coleman Bonner's got a wore out bow

He's been playin' all day down the new cut road
Coleman's little sister said you better act right Coleman

Daddy's gone to Louisville he'll be back tonight

He's gonna get another wagon and a good pair of mules

Well they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late last month

Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none

He came home too drunk from mixin' Tanqueray and wine

He got a gun shot a night clerk now they call him Johnny 99
Dawn in that part of town where when you hit red light you don't stop

Johnny's wavin' his gun around and threatin' to blow his top

Well I tell you a story about a good man

Who had many a problem before he reached dry land

It ain't easy for a good man to go down no it ain't easy for a good man to go down
On the earth there was trouble sorrow and pain

So the Lord said to Noah I'm gonna make it rain

It ain't easy for a good man to go down no it ain't easy for a good man to go down

Cane standin' in the fields gettin' old and red

Lot of misery in Georgetown dreamin' layin' dead

Joshua head of the government he said strike for better pay

Cane cutters are strikin' but Joshua gone away
Joshua gone Barbados staying in a big hotel

People on St Vincent got many sad tales to tell

The sugar mill owner told the strikers I don't need you to cut my cane

The girl from the canyon smiled a smile that brought me home

As sick and bleeding as I was she took me on her own

Brought me to the canyon where the sun poured down like rain
Her smiling eyes and the mountain light I thought myself insane

These hills have seen me runnin' till my horse could hardly stand

Hidin' by day in the mountains movin' with the moon on the land

Well I've come here to tell you folks I'm ragged but I'm right

I'm a tramp and a gambler I stay out late at night

But a porterhouse steak steak three times a day for my board
That's more than any loafer in this old town can afford

Well I got big electric fan to keep me cool while I sleep

A little baby boy playin' rounds at my feet

My name is Joe Roberts I work for the State

I'm a sergeant out on Perenville barracks No 8

I've always done an honest job honest as I could

Got a brother named Frankie Frankie ain't no good
Ever since we were young kids it's been the same come down

I'd get a call on a short way Frankie's in trouble downtown

But if it was any other man I'd put him straight away

Well I tell you a story about a good man

Who had many a problem before he reached dry land

It ain't easy for a good man to go down no it ain't easy for a good man to go down
On the earth there was trouble sorrow and pain

So the Lord said to Noah I'm gonna make it rain

It ain't easy for a good man to go down no it ain't easy for a good man to go down

The girl from the canyon smiled a smile that brought me home

As sick and bleeding as I was she took me on her own

Brought me to the canyon where the sun poured down like rain
Her smiling eyes and the mountain light I thought myself insane

These hills have seen me runnin' till my horse could hardly stand

Hidin' by day in the mountains movin' with the moon on the land

Well they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late last month

Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none

He came home too drunk from mixin' Tanqueray and wine

He got a gun shot a night clerk now they call him Johnny 99
Dawn in that part of town where when you hit red light you don't stop

Johnny's wavin' his gun around and threatin' to blow his top

Cane standin' in the fields gettin' old and red

Lot of misery in Georgetown dreamin' layin' dead

Joshua head of the government he said strike for better pay

Cane cutters are strikin' but Joshua gone away
Joshua gone Barbados staying in a big hotel

People on St Vincent got many sad tales to tell

The sugar mill owner told the strikers I don't need you to cut my cane

Coleman Bonner was a fiddle playin' fool

He's a backwoods rounder and a breaker of mules

Coleman Bonner's got a wore out bow

He's been playin' all day down the new cut road
Coleman's little sister said you better act right Coleman

Daddy's gone to Louisville he'll be back tonight

He's gonna get another wagon and a good pair of mules