Soul Of A Convict

Porter Wagoner · The Cold Hard Facts of Life/Soul of a Convict [2008]

Soul Of A Convict

(Eddie Sovine)



(Will he take the soul of a convict

Could I be one of those he choosed.)



I was taught the Bible from childhood

At my mother's knee I learned to pray

I was taught of God and all his goodness

And the devil and his evil ways.



There's good in the bad and bad in the good

And there's none that's free from sin

But there's some questions I've wondered about

What happens to the men who die in the pen.



Just imagine yourself the judge God Almighty

As you gaze over all these men

When death takes its toll what becomes of the soul

Of the men who die in the pen.



Do you think of God that's true and just

Could look from his heavenly throne

And be pleased to see men placed in chains and stripes

And tucked from their loved ones at home.



Worked until they're completely axhuasted

And your soul cries out in vain

Fed like a hog and treated like a dog

And at night to the bed you're chained.



Worked from sunup to sundown

Through all kinds of weather

And if you don't do the things just right

You get introduced to the leather.



Now you see it's not the pain I mind so much

As I'm stretched out on the floor

It's just the thought that I can't do my part

That's what breaks my heart.



You see I'm just not man enough anymore

Oh, there are a lotta other things I could tell you

That you'd marvel at and say

Why I didn't know in those modern times

They treated men that way but they do.



That's why I ask you do you think that God could

Turn with a sneer and frown

At the men who die in the pen

Do you think he'll turn us down.



I believe there's a heaven and a hell

And in God I put my trust

That's why I'm askin' these questions

I believe he's true and just.



And I just imagine he'll tell me

As we meet at the golden stairs

Hell's not just meant for some of the men who die in the pen

But for some who have mistreated them there.



You see we're payin' for the mistakes we made in our sins

As we've had our troubles in life

Because we're the underdogs of humanity

And surely God won't make us pay twice.



I believe on that Day of Judgement

He'll have this convict called in

And he'll say it's true hell's not for you

You had your hell in the pen...