Steve Earle - Billy Austin lyrics

My name is Billy Austin
I'm twenty-nine years old
I was born in Oklahoma, quarter Cherokee
I'm told don't remember Oklahoma
It's been so long since I left home
Seems like I've always been in prison
Like I've always been alone

Didn't mean to hurt nobody
Never thought I'd cross that line
I held up a filling station like
I'd done a hundred times
The kid done like I told him and
He lay face down on the floor
Guess I'll never know what made me turn
And walk back through that door

The shot rang out like thunder
My ears rang like a bell
No one came running
So I called the cops myself
Took their time to get there and
I guess I could've run
I knew I should be feeling something
But I never shed tear one

I didn't even make the papers
'cause I only killed one man
But my trial was over quickly
And then the long, hard wait began
The court-appointed lawyer couldn't look
Me in the eye he just stood up
Closed his briefcase when they
Sentenced me to die

And now my waiting's over as
The final hour drags by
I ain't about to tell you that
I don't deserve to die
There's twenty-seven men here
Mostly black and brown and poor
Most of them are guilty
But who are you to say for sure?

When the preacher comes to get me and
They shave off all my hair
Could you take that long walk with
Me knowing hell is waiting there?
Could you pull that switch yourself
Sir, with a sure, steady hand?
Could you still tell yourself, sir
That you're better than I am?

My name is Billy Austin
I'm twenty-nine years old
I was born in Oklahoma
Quarter Cherokee, I'm told