Behind Those Stone Walls

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    'Twas in St Louis City where I first saw the light,
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    brought up by honest parents in the pathway of right.
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    I was left on orphan at the age of ten years,
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    on mother's grave I've shed many tears.

            G                                                   C               G
    I'd scarcely reached manhood when I left my old home,
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    with some other fellows to the west we did roam.
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    Seeking employment though scarcely could find,
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    we seemed so poor and the people unkind.

            G                                          C                  G
    Was in New York City where we first met our fate,
                                            D
    we were arrested while roaming the streets.
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    The charges were burglars, the theft it was small,
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    but they said it would place us behind the stone walls.

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    We were marched next morning to the courthouse for trial,
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    my pal was downhearted, so I gave him a smile.
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    We pleaded for mercy, but was shown none at all,
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    they gave us twenty years behind the stone walls.

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    We were handcuffed next morning and marched to the pen,
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    we arrived there at midnight with a few other men.
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    The doors were thrown open, we marched in the halls,
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    and learned to be a convict behind the stone walls.

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    While lying that night on a pallet of straw,
                                           D
    I swore I would never again break the law.
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    There's none but your mother to bear your downfall,
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    when you are a convict behind the stone walls.

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    Come all you young fellows and listen to me,
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    when you loose life's pleasures, you've lost liberty.
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    I've tasted life's pleasures, it's bitterer than gall,
                                    D                      G
    it'll lead to a cell behind the stone walls.