Harry Chapin - Copper lyrics

If you were looking for a way to make me
Mad it was a sure fire way you found
Acting like a half wit fool
Laying your money around
Well I came back here to tell you Lou
'bout what you almost did
Don't you ever put the cash
On the counter Lou, when I'm with my kid
Yeah the kid's thirteen he's growing Lou
Two years and he'll be bigger than me
Still he thinks I'm strong as a blacksmith
And straighter than the tall oak tree
I raised him alone ten years now
Since his Mama ran away
And you ain't gonna blow his image of me
For the stunt like you pulled today

They took the copper right out
Of the penny Lou
They got the pig locked up in the pen
But you're in big trouble with me, yes you
If you ever do that again
Ten bucks a week protection don't mean
I can't knock you down
You've got to treat me like
A living saint Lou, whenever my son's around

Yeah the kid wants to be
A policeman just like me
You know he'll be a good one the
Way I started out to be
And he just might end up police chief
Now wouldn't that be something to see?
'Cause then the kid would kick right off of
The force all the two-bit grifters like me

They took the copper right out
Of the penny Lou
They got the pig locked up in the pen
But you're in big trouble with me, yes you
If you ever do that again
Ten bucks a week protection don't mean
I can't knock you down
You've got to treat me like
A living saint Lou, whenever my son's around

I guess it was when my old lady left me
And she took off with a salesman guy
I started to see things so differently
Cut your own slice out of the pie
Yeah I grew up and it came clear to
Me all the smart cops on the make
You get a silver badge not an old
Tin star when you're on the take
It's pimps and whores, punk gang wars
Robberies and homicides
When you walk the beat with
The creeps on the street
Well there ain't no way to hide
I spent half my life without no wife ridin'
Herd on the scum of the earth
I learned the tricks of the
Trade from the gutter
Parade and then I prayed for all I'm worth
Don't you know I appreciate the money Lou
'cause it all goes into the bank
And when I send my kid to college someday
I'll have guys like you to thank
Yeah ten bucks a week on your grocery store
Means you don't have to worry 'bout crime
But hold your money when the kid's with me
You can pay me double next time

They took the copper right out
Of the penny Lou
They got the pig locked up in the pen
But you're in big trouble with me, yes you
If you ever do that again
Ten bucks a week protection don't mean
I can't knock you down
You've got to treat me like
A living saint Lou, whenever my son's around

Ten bucks a week protection don't mean
I can't knock you down
You've got to treat me like
A living saint Lou, whenever my son's around