antiwarsongs

Lord, I had a fall
I had a fall in 1955
Lord, I had a fall, bad
In 1955
The police picked me up
Handcuffed me
Carried me to jail
Locked me down
They tried me for my life
April the 6th, 1956
They sent me to Angola
Not to lie, not to lie
They tried me for my life
Tried to electrocute the poor boy
You know, I told ’em
You can’t electrocute me, no, no
I said, “I got a man in here in this courthouse
Holds all power in his hand”
They asked me “What man that you’se talking about?”
I was looking dead down at the Bible, you know
I said “God above
Got all the power over me and you”
Yeah, you gonna send me to your pen
I ain’t think about your electric chair at all
Oh, you gonna send me to your pen
And I ain’t gonna be there long
Oh, yeah, you gonna send me to your pen
Lord, I ain’t gonna be there long
Mhmmm, Lord
Didn’t know you got the poor boy your way
But that’s all right, that’s all right
One of these old days, one of these old days
Lord, I’m gonna walk out this old lonesome pen
You can treat me dirty here
But God got His eyes on you
Yeah, you can treat me dirty here
But God got His eyes on you
They gave me my sentence
Not to lie
I said “That’s alright, that’s alright
I’ll take that as His call”
But I won’t be here long
They sent me April the 6th
1956
Fifty nine, fifty nine *
I was at home with my kin
(quietly) Yeah, Lord, buddy
Well, that’s when
I met poor Hattie Mae *
In the east country that Spring
Mhmmm

Less sure about this line. Maybe “I’ll take death as it comes” or something else entirely
* As in 1959, the year he was released to “servitude parole”
* Robert’s wife

▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWS0d-UUMOo&t=32s