Judy Collins - The Hostage
[Verse 1]
Dm G Dm
I'm a guard in the grey iron prison, at least I was 'till now
G Bb Dm
It was never a picnic social, never a day
G Dm
They never come in laughing and you know they never taught them how
G Bb Dm
It was damn hard work, and you wouldn't believe the pay
[Verse 2]
G Dm
It was early in the morning, lord, I wasn't but half awake
G Bb Dm
When the cons went nuts, and took us by surprise
G Dm
I never was one for shaking, but I found it hard to stand
G Bb Dm
With a six-inch blade held right before my eyes
[Verse 3]
G Dm
We could hear a siren blowing, somebody yelled in pain
G Bb Dm
Then it got so quiet, you could hear a bird walk by
G Dm
They all had masks on their faces, and they spoke with a voice of Cain
G Bb Dm
"If they come in shooting, then you know you're bound to die"
[Verse 4]
G Dm
I turned to a buddy named Willie, I said "Willie, it'll be all right
G Bb Dm
If they meant to kill us we'd be half way down to Hell
See, they high-jacked a plane in the desert
G Dm
And the government screamed and cried
G Bb Dm
But to save some lives, they opened up a prison cell"
[Verse 5]
G Dm
So the days kept coming and going, tension was getting high
G Bb Dm
But I wasn't too worried, I figured I knew the score
G Dm
I knew they were talking to someone, I knew they were willing to try
G Bb Dm
So I figured my freedom was a matter of a day or two more
[Verse 6]
G Dm
But, Jesus, early this morning, the whirlybird dropped the gas
G Bb Dm
It made me puke and it brought me to my knees
G Dm
The bullets came like hailstones, I heard the first ones pass
G Bb Dm
Then they cut down Willie, and they got Jim Kelly and me
[Verse 7]
G Dm
They come in yelling curses, like they were crossing the River Rhine
G Bb Dm
Shot down every goddamned thing they saw
G Dm
And while I lay there wounded, I took another one in my spine
G Bb Dm
Poor Jim Kelly took another one in his jaw
[Verse 8]
G Dm
They say we had our throats cut by a band of desperate men
G Bb Dm
Say they saved as many of us as they could
G Dm
Well, the governor he should know it, but I think I'll say it again
G Bb Dm
That the governor cut my throat and he cut it good
[Verse 9]
G Dm
Let them take the governor, hold him for a couple of days
G Bb Dm
See who goes in shooting to set him free
G Dm
Hell, they'd open every jail in the country, they'd send them on their way
G Bb Dm
They'd never do to him what the governor done to me