Preview
Well they closed down the auto plant in
Mahwah late that 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 'm Johnny 99
Down in the part of town where when you
hit a red light you don't stop
Johnny's wavin' his gun around and
threatenin' to blow his top
When an off duty cop snuck up on him
from behind
Out in front of the Club Tip Top they
slapped the cuffs on Johnny 99
Well the city supplied a public defender
but the judge was Mean John Brown
He came into the courtroom and stared
poor Johnny down
Well the evidence is clear gonna let the
sentence son fit the crime
Prison for 98 and a year and we'll call it
even Johnny 99
A fistfight broke out in the courtroom they
had to drag Johnny's girl away
His mamma stood up and shouted
"judge don't take my boy this way"
Well son you got a statement you'd like to
make
Before the bailiff comes to forever take
you away
Now judge l got debts no honest man
could pay
The bank was holdin' my mortgage and
they was takin' my house away
Now l ain't sayin' that makes me an
innocent man
But it was more 'n all this that put that gun
in my hand
Well your honor l do believe l'd be better
off dead
And if you can take a man's life for the
thoughts that's in his head
Then won't you sit back in that chair and
think it over judge one more time
And let 'em shave off my hair and put me
on that execution line