BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Johnny 99 lyrics

rate me

Well they closed down the auto plant in mahwah late that month<br>Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none<br>He came home too drunk from mixin' tanqueray and wine<br>He got a gun shot a night clerk now they call'm johnny 99<br><br>Down in the part of town where when you hit a red light you don't stop<br>Johnny's wavin' his gun around and threatenin' to blow his top<br>When an off-duty cop snuck up on him from behind<br>Out in front of the club tip top they slapped the cuffs on johnny 99<br><br>Well the city supplied a public defender but the judge was mean john brown<br>He came into the courtroom and stared young johnny down<br>Well the evidence is clear gonna let the sentence son fit the crime<br>Prison for 98 and a year and we'll call it even johnny 99<br>A fist fight broke out in the courtroom they had to drag johnny's girl away<br>His mama stood up and shouted judge don't take my boy this way<br>Well son you got a statement you'd like to make<br>Before the bailiff comes to forever take you away<br><br>Now judge I had debts no honest man could pay<br>The bank was holdin' my mortgage and they were gonna take my house away<br>Now I ain't sayin' that makes me an innocent man<br>But it was more `n all this that put that gun in my hand<br><br>Well your honor I do believe I'd be better off dead<br>So if you can take a man's life for the thoughts that's in his head<br>Then sit back in that chair and think it over judge one more time<br>And let `em shave off my hair and put me on that killin' line