The Ballad of Jimmy Scott Lyrics

When you're older you feel something

When you're young you can't feel a thing

I've started lots of fires

But I've learned from them

The Baker brothers said I wasn't dirty enough

They wanted to hang me from a tree

I'm stuck with this number on my chest

It didn't fail because of me

Warden, damn right I moved those bags around

Warden, you locked me up

To keep those pitchforks in the ground

When you're hurting you'll blame anything

They wanted to string me up the Bayview Bridge

Webster haunts me every single day of life

And it's what gave me this sentence

I never claimed that I was perfect

I've stumbled and drank my share and ten

But when the newsman asked for sandbaggers

I was there to do my penance

Warden, a better man would have put the bottle down

Warden, I tried my best

But there's no redemption in this town

And one day soon these walls

Will crumble into debris

And take what fight the cancer

Couldn't, from me

They said Rudy was a ghost

Suzie is gone and I'm a memory

Mississippi sunset in my mind

Is all I'll see

Quincy, when I was young

I know I let you down

Quincy, my heart broke

Watching my hometown city drown