Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen
Producer: Dan Baird
Well they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late last month
Ralph went out looking for a job but, Lord, he couldn't find none
He came home too drunk from mixing Tanqueray and wine
He got a gun and shot a night clerk, now they call him Johnny 99
Down in the part of town when you hit a red light and don't stop
Johnny's waving his gun and threatening to blow his top
When an off-duty cop snuck up on him from behind
Out in front of the club Tip Top, they slapped the cuffs on Johnny 99
The city supplied a public defender, but the judge was mean John Brown
When he came into the courtroom and he stared young Johnny down
Well, the evidence is clear, gonna let the sentence fit the crime
Prison for 98 and a year, we'll call it even, Johnny 99
Well, a fist fight broke out in the courtroom, they had to drag Johnny's girl away
His mama stood up and shouted, "Judge, don't take my boy this way"
Well, son, you got a statement that you'd like to make
Before the bailiff comes to forever take you away?
Now judge, oh judge, I got debts no honest man can pay
The bank was holding my mortgage, they was taking my house away
Now, I ain't saying that make me no innocent man
God knows it was more than all this that put that gun in my hand
Well, Your Honor, I do believe I'd be better off dead
And if you can take a man's life for the thoughts running through his head
Then won't you sit back in that chair and think it over, judge, one more time
And let them shave off my hair and put me on the execution line
Ralph went out looking for a job but, Lord, he couldn't find none
He came home too drunk from mixing Tanqueray and wine
He got a gun and shot a night clerk, now they call him Johnny 99
Down in the part of town when you hit a red light and don't stop
Johnny's waving his gun and threatening to blow his top
When an off-duty cop snuck up on him from behind
Out in front of the club Tip Top, they slapped the cuffs on Johnny 99
The city supplied a public defender, but the judge was mean John Brown
When he came into the courtroom and he stared young Johnny down
Well, the evidence is clear, gonna let the sentence fit the crime
Prison for 98 and a year, we'll call it even, Johnny 99
Well, a fist fight broke out in the courtroom, they had to drag Johnny's girl away
His mama stood up and shouted, "Judge, don't take my boy this way"
Well, son, you got a statement that you'd like to make
Before the bailiff comes to forever take you away?
Now judge, oh judge, I got debts no honest man can pay
The bank was holding my mortgage, they was taking my house away
Now, I ain't saying that make me no innocent man
God knows it was more than all this that put that gun in my hand
Well, Your Honor, I do believe I'd be better off dead
And if you can take a man's life for the thoughts running through his head
Then won't you sit back in that chair and think it over, judge, one more time
And let them shave off my hair and put me on the execution line
more tracks from the album
Light of Day: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen
- Brilliant Disguise
- Two Hearts
- Something in the Night
- Valentine’s Day
- Atlantic City
- Back in Your Arms
- If I Should Fall Behind
- Man at the Top
- State Trooper
- Highway Patrolman
- My Hometown
- Lucky Town
- Thunder Road
- The Promise
- Souls of the Departed
- Ain’t Got You
- E Street Shuffle
- Badlands
- Candy’s Room
- Hungry Heart
- Mansion on the Hill
- Johnny 99
- New York City Serenade
- Bobby Jean
- Streets of Philadelphia
- I’m on Fire
- Better Days
- The River
- Light of Day
- Downbound Train
- Born to Run
- For You
- Working on the Highway
- Pink Cadillac
- Book of Dreams
- Stolen Car
- Secret Garden
From the album
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