The Hostage - Tom Paxton

I’m a guard in the great iron prison, at least I was 'till now

It was never a picnic social, never a date

They never come in laughing and you know they never taught them how

It was damn hard work, and you wouldn’t believe the pay

It was early in the morning, Lord, I wasn’t but a half awake

When the Cons went nuts, and took us by surprise

I never was one for shaking, but I found it hard to stand

With a six-inch blade held right between my eyes

We could hear a siren blowing, somebody yelled in pain

Then it got so quiet, you could hear a bird walk by

They all had masks on their faces, and they spoke with a voice of Cain

«If they come in shooting, then you know you’re bound to die

If they come in shooting, then you know you’re bound to die.»

I turned to a buddy named Willie, I said «Willie It’ll be all right

If they meant to kill us we’d be half way down to Hell

See, they high-jacked a plane in the dessert, and the government screamed and

cries

But to save some lives, they opened up a prison cell»

So the days kept coming and going, tension was getting high

But I wasn’t too worried, I figured I knew the score

I knew they were talking to someone, I knew they were willing to try

So I figured my freedom was a matter of a day or two more

But, Jesus, early this morning, the whirlybird dropped the gas

It made me puke and it brought me to my knees

The bullets came like hail-stones, I heard the first ones pass

Then they cut down Willie, and they got Jim Kelly and me

They cut down Willie, and they got Jim Kelly and me

They come in yelling curses, like they were caught in the River Rhine

Shot down every God damned thing they saw

And while I lay they wounded, I took another one in my spine

Poor Jim Kelly took another one in his jaw

Oh, Poor Jim Kelly took another one in his jaw

They say we had our throats cut, by a band of desperate men

Say they saved as many of us as they could

Well the governor he should now it, but I think I’ll say it again

That the governor cut my throat and he cut it good

Let them take the governor, hold him for a couple of days

See who goes in shooting to set him free

Hell they’ll open every jail in the country, they’d send them on their way

They’d never do to him what the governor done to me

They’d never do to him what the governor done to me