Bruce Springsteen - Johnny 99

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 'em 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 young 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 forver take you away?
Now Judge, Judge I had debts no honest man could pay
The bank was holdin' my mortgate,
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 killing line


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 'em 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 young 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 forver take you away?
Now Judge, Judge I had debts no honest man could pay
The bank was holdin' my mortgate,
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 killing line


Bruce Springsteen - Johnny 99

From his 1982 masterpiece NEBRASKA.

Bruce Springsteen Johnny 99

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Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Perth Arena Australia February 7th 2014.

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Bruce Springsteen - Johnny 99 (Dublin 12th Jul 09)

Bruce & the E Street Band playing Johnny 99 at the R.D.S. Arena in Dublin, Ireland on the 12th July 2009. Sample of new HD 6-cam mix of show (this song is ...

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen