Prison Trilogy (Billy Rose) Joan Baez
[G]Billy Rose was a low rider, [G]Billy Rose was a night fighter
[C] Billy Rose knew trouble like the [G]sound of his own [D]name
[D]Busted on a drunken charge
[D]Driving someone else's car
The [D]local midnight sheriff's claim to [G]fame
In an [G]Arizona jail there are [G]some who tell the tale, how
[C]Billy fought the sergeant for some [G]milk that he de[D]manded
[D]Knowing they'd remain the boss
[D]Knowing he would pay the cost
They [D]saw he was severely repri[G]manded
In the [Em]blackest cell on [D]A Block
He [Em]hanged himself at [D]dawn
With a [Em]note stuck to the [D]bunk head
Don't [Am]mess with me, just take me [D]home
Come and [Em]lay, help us [D]lay
young Billy [G]down
[G]Luna was a Mexican the [G]law calls an alien
For [C]coming across the border with a [G]baby and a [D]wife
Though the [D]clothes upon his back were wet
[D]Still he thought that he could get
Some [D]money and things to start a [G]life
It [G]hadn't been too very long when it [G]seemed like everything went wrong
They [C]didn't even have the time to [G]find themselves a [D]home
This [D]foreigner, a brown-skin male
[D]Thrown inside a Texas jail
It [D]left the wife and baby quite a[G]lone
He [Em]eased the pain in[D]side him
With a [Em]needle in his [D]arm
But the [Em]dope just cruci[D]fied him
He [Am]died to no one's great a[D]larm
Come and [Em]lay, help us [D]lay
Young Luna [G]down
And we're gonna [Em]raze, raze the [D]prisons
To the [G]ground
[G]Kilowatt was an aging con of [G]65 who stood a chance to [C]stay alive
And leave the joint and [G]walk the streets [D]again
As the [D]time he was to leave drew near
He [D]suffered all the joy and fear
Of [D]leaving 35 years in the [G]pen
And [G]on the day of his release he [G]was approached by the police
Who [C]took him to the warden walking [G]slowly by his [D]side
The [D]warden said "You won't remain here
[D]But it seems a state retainer
[D]Claims another 10 years of your [G]life."
He stepped [Em]out in the Texas [D]sunlight
The [Em]cops all stood a[D]round
Old [Em]Kilowatt ran [D]50 yards
Then [Am]threw himself down on the [D]ground
They might as [Em]well just have [D]laid
The old man [G]down
And we're gonna [Em]raze, raze the [D]prisons
To the [G]ground
Help us [Em]raze, raze the [D]prisons
To the [G]ground
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