Come to the door Ma, and unlock the I was just passin through, I got caught in the Theres nothing I want, that you need say let me lay down for a while and Ill be on my way
I was no more a kid, when you put me on. the Southern Queen the police on my back, I fled all the way down to New Orleans I fought in the dockyards, and with the I made I knew the was my home, and blood was my trade
Baton Rouge, Ponchitoula, and Lafayette Well, paid me their money Ma, and I knocked the men down I did what I did, well it came Restraint and Ma were always strangers to me
I fought Jack Thompson, in a field full of mud The rain poured through the canvas tent,and mixed our blood In the twelfth I slipped my tongue, my broken jaw and I stood him, I pounded his bloody body, into the floor Well the bell rang and rang, and I kept on and on and on Till I felt my glove leather, slip between his skin and
Then the women and the money came fast and the days I lost The red, the money green, but the numbers were black I fought for the men in their silk suits, to lay down bets I took my share Ma, ya see I, I have no regrets
Then I took the fix at the state armory, with big McDowell oh, From in the rafters, I watched myself fall As they raised his arm my stomach twisted. and the sky it went I stuffed my bag with their money ma, and I never looked back
So understand, in the end Ma, every man the game If you know me one different, then out his name Ma, if my now, now you dont recognize Then just open the door, and look into your eyes I ask of you nothin, not a kiss, not a smile, Just open the door and let me lay for a while
Now the rain is fallin, my ring fightins done So in the work fields and alleys,ya see I, I all who come If youre a better man than me, come on, and step up to the line, step right to the Show me your money , and speak out your
Now theres I want Ma, nothin that you need say Just let me lay down for a and Ill be on my way
Tonight in a shipyard, a man draws a circle in the I move to the center, and I take off my I him for the cuts, the scars, the pain, Man no can erase I move hard to the left, and I strike to the