That’ll Get You Ten

Just two years an' seven days
Between me an' legal age
Just one clerk in that liquor store
Between me an' that front door
My coat had deep pockets
An' he prob'ly had a gun
Well, I reckon he was watchin'
'Cause he said: "Son
"That'll get you one"

"One year pickin' up trash on the highway
"One phone call to hear your Momma's heart break
"If you think it's worth it, don't let me stop you, son
"'Cause that'll get you one"

She had a beer in her hand, she was comin' on strong
An' I was just this close to takin' her home
Things were lookin' good when we left that bar
Till she stopped an' said: "That's my car"
That's when I saw the sticker
That said: "Franklin County High"
Well, I didn't even kiss the girl goodbye
'Cause that'll get you five

Five years bustin' up rocks on the chain gang
Poundin' and a-bangin' state plates in Sing Sing
Wond'rin' if I'm ever gonna make it out alive

An' those tan legs might get me thinkin' 'bout a jail break
Askin' my Mom to slip a file in a Bundt cake
Those bloodhounds'll prob'ly haul me back in --
An' that's another ten

Boss man climbin' down my back
Won't cut me one inch of slack
'Tween that steel beam an' the ground below
It'd be a nasty fall if the wind should blow
I don't see a witness, an' we're up here awful high
If he should lose his balance
He might not survive
But that'll get you life

Pumpin' that iron with the boys on the cell-block
Tyin' my soap to a rope so it don't drop
'Cause some ol' boy thinks my biceps look nice

Writin' to the governor an' beggin' for a pardon
Thinkin' "that's how Merle Haggard got started"
Swappin' cigarettes for Momma's apple pie

Lookin' through the glass an' talkin' to my lawyer
Memorizing Moby Dick an' Tom Sawyer
Tellin' the parole board "I learned wrong from right"

Yeah, that'll get you life
Yeah, that'll get you life