Straight Time

Got out of prison back in 86 And I found me a wife Walked the clean and narrow Just tryin' to stay out and stay alive Got a job at the renderin' factory It ain't gonna make me rich In the darkness before dinner comes Sometimes I can feel the it I got a cold mind, to go trippin' across that thin line I'm sick of doin' straight time My uncles' at the evenin' table Makes his livin' runnin' hot cars Slips me a hundred dollar bill, says Charlie you better remember who your friends are I got a cold mind, to go trippin' across that thin line I ain't makin' straight time Eight years in, it feels like you're gonna die But you get used to anything Sooner or later, it becomes your life Kitchen floor in the evenin' Tossin' my little babies high Mary's smilin', but she watches me Out of the corner of her eye Seems you can't get any more than half free I step out onto the front porch And suck the cold air deep inside of me Got a cold mind, to go trippin' cross that thin line I'm sick of doin' straight time In the basement, huntin' gun and a hacksaw Sip a beer, and thirteen inches of barrel drop to the floor Come home in the evenin' Can't get the smell from my hands Lay my head down on the pillow And go driftin' off into foreign lands