The Hitter

Come to the door, Ma, and unlock the chain

I was just passing through and got caught in the rain

There's nothing that I want, nothing that you need say

Just let me lie down for a while and I'll be on my way

I was no more than a kid when you put me on the Southern Queen

With the police on my back, I fled to New Orleans

I fought in the dockyards and with the money that I made

The fight was my home and blood was my trade

Baton Rouge, Ponchatoula and Lafayette town

They paid me their money, Ma, I knocked the men down

I did what I did and it come easily

Restraint and mercy, Ma, were always strangers to me

I fought champion Jack Thompson in a field full of mud

Rain poured through the tent to the canvas and mixed with our blood

In the twelfth, I slipped my tongue over my broken jaw

And I stood over him, pounded his bloodied body into the floor

Well, the bell rang and rang and still I kept on

Until I felt my glove leather slip between his skin and bone

And the women and the money came fast and the days I lost track

The women red, the money green, but the numbers were black

I fought for the men in their silk suits to lay down their bets

And I took my good share, Ma, I have no regrets

I took the fix at the state armory with big John McDonald

From high in the rafters, I watched myself fall

As they raised his arm, my stomach twisted, the sky it went black

I stuffed my bag with their good money and never looked back

Understand, in the end, Ma, every man plays the game

If you know anyone different then speak out his name

Ma, if my voice now, you don't recognize

Well just open the door and look into your dark eyes

I ask of you nothing, not a kiss, not a smile

Just open the door and let me lie down for a while

Now the gray rain is falling and my ring fighting done

So in the work fields and alleys, I take all who'll come

If you're a better man than me, then just step to the line

And show me your money and speak out your crime

Now there's nothing I want, Ma, nothing that you need say

Just let me lie for a while and I'll be on my way

Well tonight in shipyard, a man draws a circle in the dirt

I move to the center and I take off my shirt

I study him for the cuts, the scars, the pain, man, no time can erase

I move hard to the left and I strike to the face