War (official video)

"Peace love and understanding 

There must be some place for these things today 

They say we must fight to keep our freedom 

But Lord there's gotta be a better way 

That's better than 

War"

Atlantic City (1982)

Well they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night,
Now they blew up his house too.
Down on the boardwalk they're gettin' ready for a fight,
Gonna see what them racket boys can do.

Now there's trouble busin' in from out of state,
And the D.A. can't get no relief.
Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade,
And the gamblin' commissions hangin' on by the skin of its teeth.

Everything dies, baby that's a fact,
But maybe everything that dies, someday comes back.
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty,
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

Well I got a job and tried to put my money away,
But I got debts that no honest man can pay.
So I drew what I had from the Central Trust,
And I bought us two tickets on that Coast City bus.

Everything dies, baby that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies, someday comes back.
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty,
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

Now our luck may have died, and our love may be cold,
But with you forever I'll stay.
We're goin' out where the sands turnin' to gold,
So put on your stockin's cause the nights gettin' cold.

And everything dies, baby that's a fact,
But maybe everything that dies, someday comes back.

Now I been lookin' for a job. but it's hard to find,
Down here it's just winners and losers, and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line.
Well I'm tired of comin' out on the losin' end,
So honey, last night I met this guy, and I'm gonna do a little favor for him.

Well I guess everything dies, baby that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies, someday comes back
So fix your hair up nice, and fix yourself up pretty,
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

Johnny 99 (1982)

Well they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late that month
Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none
He came home too drunk from mixin'
Tanqueray and wine
He got a gun shot a night clerk now they call 'm Johnny 99

Down in the part of town where when you hit a red light you don't stop
Johnny's wavin' his gun around and threatenin' 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

Well the city supplied a public defender but the judge was Mean John Brown
He came into the courtroom and stared poor Johnny down
Well the evidence is clear gonna let the sentence son fit the crime
Prison for 98 and a year and we'll call it even Johnny 99

A fistfight 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 you'd like to make
Before the bailiff comes to forever take you away

Now judge I got debts no honest man could pay
The bank was holdin' my mortgage and they was takin' my house away
Now I ain't sayin' that makes me an innocent man
But it was more 'n 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 that's in his head
Then won't you sit back in that chair and think it over judge one more time
And let 'em shave off my hair and put me on that execution line

Used Cars (1982)

My little sister's in the front seat with an ice cream cone
My ma's in the backseat sittin' all alone
As my pa steers her slow out of the lot for a test drive down Michigan Avenue

Now my ma she fingers her wedding band
And watches the salesman stare at my old man's hands
He's tellin' us all 'bout the break he'd give us if he could but he just can't
Well if I could I swear I know just what I'd do

Now mister the day the lottery I win I ain't ever gonna ride in no used car again

Now the neighbors come from near and far
As we pull up in our brand new used car
I wish he'd just hit the gas and let out a cry and tell 'em all they can kiss our asses goodbye

My dad he sweats the same job from mornin' to mornn
Me I walk home on the same dirty streets where I was born
Up the block I can hear my little sister in the front seat blowin' that horn
The sounds echo'in all down Michigan Avenue

Now mister the day my number comes in I ain't ever gonna ride in no used car again

State Trooper (1982)

New Yersey Turnpike ridin' on a wet night 'neath the refinery's glow, out where the great black rivers flow
License, registration, I ain't got none, but I got a clear conscience
'Bout the things that I done
Mister State Trooper please don't stop me...

Maybe you got a kid maybe you got a pretty wife, the only thing that I got's been botherin' me my whole life
Mister State Trooper please don't stop me

In the wee wee hours your mind gets hazy, radio relay towers lead me to my baby
Radio's jammed up with talk show stations
It's just talk, talk, talk till you lose your patience
Mister State Trooper please don't stop me

Hey somebody out there, listen to my last prayer
Hi ho silver-o deliver me from nowhere

Highway Patrolman (1982)

My name is Joe Roberts I work for the state
I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville barracks number 8
I always done an honest job as honest as I could
I got a brother named Franky and Franky ain't no good

Now ever since we was young kids it's been the same come down
I get a call over the radio Franky's in trouble downtown
Well if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away
But when it's your brother sometimes you look the other way

Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin' nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good

Well Franky went in the army back in 1965 I got a farm deferment settled down took Maria for my wife
But them wheat prices kept on droppin' till it was like we were gettin' robbed
Franky came home in '68 and me I took this job

Yea we're laughin' and drinkin' nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', teach him how to walk that line
Man turns his back on his family he ain't no friend of mine

The night was like any other, I got a call 'bout quarter to nine
There was trouble in a roadhouse out on the Michigan line
There was a kid lyin' on the floor lookin' bad, bleedin' hard from his head there was a girl cryin' at a table, it was Frank they said
Well I went out and I jumped in my car and I hit the lights
I must of done 110 through Michigan county that night

It was out at the crossroads down round Willow bank
Seen a Buick with Ohio plates behind the wheel was Frank
Well I chased him through them county roads till a sign said Canadian border 5 miles from here
I pulled over the side of the highway and watched his taillights disappear

Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin' nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good

Nebraska (1982)

I saw her standin' on her front lawn just twirlin' her baton
Me and her went for a ride sir and ten innocent people died

From the town of Lincoln, Nebraska with a sawed off .410 on my lap
Through to the badlands of Wyoming I killed everything in my path

I can't say that I'm sorry for the things that we done
At least for a little while sir me and her we had us some fun

The jury brought in a guilty verdict and the judge he sentenced me to death
Midnight in a prison storeroom with leather straps across my chest

Sheriff when the man pulls that switch sir and snaps my poor head back
You make sure my pretty baby is sittin' right there on my lap

They declared me unfit to live said into that great void my soul'd be hurled
They wanted to know why I did what I did
Well sir I guess there's just a meanness in this world.