#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
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This file is for personal private use only.  All copyright laws apply.
-transcribed by Greg Steele - 
gsteele@steelerubber.com - 73522.2331@compuserve.com


"Jailbirds In The Bighouse" by John Gorka


G                                   Am   
They built the prison by the freeway just to rub it in,

D                             C         G
It's a gentle reminder of the wages of sin.

G                      Am            
The ones on the inside are being paid their share,

D                                   C      G 
There's a hundred stories for every man in there.

G                               Am  
There's marks on the cell walls, there's marks on the men,

D                                       C               G
One counts off the time lost, the other counts till the end.


(CHORUS)
C                         G
Jailbirds in the bighouse, jailbirds in the sky

Am                                  C           D
Singing of their innocence, they'll sing by and by.

C                          G
Jailbirds in the bighouse, jailbirds on a spree,

Am                                           C                 D
Some of them coulda looked like you, some of them used to look like me.

Teddy was a bad kid from a bad family tree,
He was voted most likely to commit a felony,
And that was back in grade school, after that he disappeared,
They say he moved or he dropped out and he's faded with the years.
A red hand in the cookie jar, a foot in potter's field,
His face was waiting for a number, he fate was aching to be sealed.

(CHORUS)

Teddy had a girlfriend who gave him a place to stay,
But he left with her TV set and a baby on the way,
And if you should run across him, he could shorten your life,
With a butt of a pistol or the edge of a knife,
He'll sing a song of the rockpile, mourning all he had,
All the luck in all the world and most of it was bad.

(CHORUS)