Almanac Music: ‘My Baby’s Got Me Locked Up in Chains’ – Songs Containing Prison References
Almanac Music: ‘My Baby’s Got Me Locked Up in Chains’ – Songs Containing Prison References
Hi, Almanackers! This week’s piece in my ongoing series about key popular song themes concerns songs that contain prison references. Key words in this context are ones such as prison, jail, lockup, warder, chain gang, convict, ‘behind bars’ and the like. As long as the connection to prison is clear, the song is relevant.
So, dear readers, please put your relevant songs in the ‘Comments’ section. Below, as usual, are some examples from me to get things going.
‘Folsom Prison Blues’, written by Johnny Cash, performed by Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two (1955)
‘I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when’
‘Jailhouse Rock’, written by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, performed by Elvis Presley (1957)
‘dancin to the Jailhouse Rock’
‘Chains’, written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, performed by The Beatles (1963)
‘my baby’s got me locked up in chains’
‘The Black Velvet Band’, Traditional, performed by The Grehan Sisters (1967)
‘I’ll give you ten years penal servitude / To be spent far away from the land / Far away from your friends and relations / And the wench with the black velvet band’
‘I Shall be Released’, written by Bob Dylan, performed by the Heptones (1969)
‘ I see Jah light come shining / From the west unto the east’
‘Rubber Bullets’, written by Graham Gouldman, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, performed by 10cc (1973)
‘I wanna hear those convicts squeal / It’s a shame these slugs ain’t real’
‘Hurricane’, written by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy, performed by Bob Dylan (1975)
‘That sonofabitch is brave and gettin’ braver / We want to put his ass in stir’ / We want to pin this triple murder on him / He ain’t no Gentleman Jim’
‘Bad Boy for Love’, written by Ian Rilen, performed by Rose Tattoo (1977)
‘Thirty days in the county jail / Let me out and I just wanted to wail’
‘Back on the Chain Gang’, written Chrissie Hynde, performed by The Pretenders (1982)
I’m back on the train / Back on the chain gang
‘Man Down’, written by Shama Joseph, Timothy Thomas, Theron Thomas and Shontelle Layne, performed by Rihanna (2011)
‘I need to get out of sight ‘fore I end up behind bars’
…………………………………….
Now, dear readers / listeners – it’s over to you. Your responses to this topic are most welcome. In the ‘Comments’ section, please add your own choice of a song (or songs) containing prison references, along with any other relevant material you wish to include.
[Note: as usual, Wikipedia has been a good general reference for this piece, particularly in terms of checking dates and other details.]
Read more from Kevin Densley HERE
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About
Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His fifth book-length poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws ... I'm Feeling Too Indolent, was published in late 2023 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
Some songs that first come to mind.
Sing Me Back Home – Gram Parsons, The Flying Burrito Brothers
Green, Green Grass of Home – Tom Jones
Tom Dooley – Kingston Trio
Chain Gang – Sam Cooke
Absolutely Sweet Marie – Bob Dylan
Mr Bojangles – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Jailbreak – ACDC
Midnight Special – many
The Long Black Veil: trad, but my fave version is by Mick Jagger and the Chieftans
Fields of Athenry: trad, but my fave version is by Dropkick Murphys
The Auld Triangle: Pogues (via Brendan Behan)
Delilah: Tom Jones
Thank you, Col, for opening the batting – a fine bunch of selections which illustrate that that songs referencing prison can come from a wide range of genres.
Many thanks, Smokie, for being the fellow opener in relation to our latest theme. Among other things, your contribution, I feel, foreshadows the considerable extent to which that songwriter called ‘Trad’ or ‘Traditional’ will be associated with the song selections to follow.
“Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree”, by Dawn (I’m coming home, I ‘ve done my time.”) and (I’m really still in prison and my love she holds the key.”)
“On the Inside”, by Lynne Hamilton, as the theme music to the Australian television soap opera “Prisoner” (“But the sun and rain are prisoners too”) and (“But the roses here are prisoners too”)
Hi Anon – good to see you ‘up and about’ so early in the piece. Thank you for two solidly on-theme contributions.
‘Gallows Pole’: trad, but Led Zeppelin’s version is a cracker
‘Jailbreak’: Thin Lizzy
‘I Fought the Law’: The Clash (my fave version)
Cheers, Smokie – thanks for those two – by two fine bands.
Morning KD!
Another theme to get the brain cells chugging.
No surprise here – I’ll open up with an early Dylan song.
Ballad In Plain D (1964)
Ah, my friends from the prison, they ask unto me
“How good, how good does it feel to be free?”
And I answer them most mysteriously
“Are birds free from the chains of the skyway?”
Thanks, Smokie, for ‘I Fought the Law’ – by another fine band!
Morning, Karl. Thanks for your opening foray – I feel ‘His Bobness’ will be well represented in this thematic song list.
Hmm, this theme is going to be the opposite of difficult.
First off CR, I really have to call out your first suggestion. I reckon even Gram would be saying whoa, no. This is a Merle Haggard song and while there have been many versions none, not even the great Gram Parson’s version comes close to Merle. Okay, let’s go:
Huntsville, Merle Haggard (and there will be plenty more Merle, that’s for sure)
Lonesome Whistle, Hank (I wrestle with whether this song, Cheating Heart and I’m So Lonesome is his finest moment – hell, they’re all brilliant)
Bankrobber, The Clash (mindbogglingly good)
Johnny 99, Bruce (and Johnny Cash does a pretty good job of it as well)
San Quentin, Johnny Cash (the live album when he has to play it again because the inmate audience demands it is gold)
Cheers
Thanks Kevin
The film Dead Man Walking explores the theme of capital punishment from several points of view. The associated soundtrack album contains some brilliant tracks from Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Suzanne Vega, Lyle Lovett, Michelle Shocked, Eddie Vedder, Tom Waits, Steve Earle and the wonderful voice of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Steve Earle
Jail and the downtrodden are recurring themes in the music of Steve Earle. In his Billy Austin and Ellis Unit One, Earle explores the theme of capital punishment from the point of view of a killer and that of a prison guard.
Tom Ames Prayer from Train A Comin’ has great lyrics and is one of three rock songs that mention the Texas town of Nacogdoches!
Concrete and Barbed Wire – Steve in duet with Lucinda Williams on her Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
The Road Goes on Forever – Robert Earl Keen
How To Make Gravy – will possibly get a mention
And a whole heap of other incarceration songs doing time in the vaults of the history of rock and blues.
Riot in Cell Block #9 – The Robins and Dr Feelgood
Green, Green Grass of Home – Tom Jones
Parchman Farm – Bukka White
Midnight Special – Leadbelly
“Coward Of The County”, by Kenny Rogers (“He was only ten years old when his daddy died in prison.”)
Thanks, Rick, for your initial journey into prison territory. I agree with your implication that the theme should result in many, many songs on the songlist, but perhaps the more interesting issue will be how many ways the prison theme will manifest itself in songs across numerous genres:hard rock, rock, pop, folk, country, blues, jazz, reggae, satirical and comic songs, and all sorts of mixtures of these.
We’re off and running, anyway…
You mentioned Black Velvet Band, but of course there are loads of transportation songs including,
Jim Jones at Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Moreton Bay
The Catalpa
Van Dieman’s Land.
A couple of notes on these songs. Most are written by trad or anon. Moreton Bay was written by Frank the Poet (real name Frank MacNamara) an Irishman transported to colonial Australia, he might well be Australia’s first non-indigenous poet.
The Catalpa is a song about a real event. In 1876, during the Perth Regatta, a boat flying the Stars and Stripes picked up six Irish rebel convicts following a jail break at Fremantle.
“So come all you screw warders and jailers
Remember Perth regatta day
Take care of the rest of your Fenians
Or the Yankees will steal them away”
“Chains”, by Tina Arena (“Echo off these dungeon walls”)
Thank you for your comments, Peter C – much of considerable interest for us to digest and listen to. (Note: Tom Jones’ version of ‘Green, Green Grass of Home’ has already been mentioned, as has ‘Midnight Special’ – but not specifically the important Leadbelly version.)
Thanks, Anon, for ‘Coward of the County’ and ‘Chains’.
Thanks, Dave N, for your song choices and interesting comments – yes, certainly, there’s a sub-genre of transportation songs, well worth mentioning in the present context.
I need a ruling here Kevin. Are we talking prison songs or execution songs? Songs like the Gallows Pole or Green Green Grass of Home do not mention gaols, they mention executions. I have a boatload of folk and country songs about people being executed – Ned Kelly alone would be five or six references but I think this is another theme. What is your ruling Mr Songmaster?
Actually Green Grass of Home does mention four grey walls but my question still stands.
Interesting query Mr Nadel, as this is kinda what I was caught checking myself earlier today re Johnny 99. While the song doesn’t reference the inside of a prison, and the emphasis is on the protagonist wanting the death penalty I included it because, well the song title is the prison sentence the judge hands down to our sad and hapless character.
Which leads me to prison as a metaphor and where KD stands on that in this theme. Clearly Johnny 99 is already trapped inside a prison of unemployment. debts, marginalisation and loneliness and the strength of the song is how Bruce highlights that the psychological prison Johnny is trapped in is 10 times worse than actual prison. So, KD, to add to Dave’s query, can psychological or metaphorical prisons be included in this theme as well?
Cheers
“Pressure Down”, by John Farnham (“And I was trapped like a prisoner in this lonely town”)
Do Not Forsake Me (High Noon) – Frankie Lane
Feather on the Wind – Roger Whittaker
Kilgary Mountain – Roger Whittaker
“Band on the Run”, by Wings (“Stuck inside these four walls. Sent inside forever”) and (“And the jailer man and Sailor Sam were searching everyone.”)
Riot in Cell Block Number 9 – The Robins
Prison Bound Blues – Willie Nix
In the Jail House Now – Jimmie Rogers
Dallas County Jail Blues – Gene Autry
Christmas in Jail, Ain’t that a Pain – Leroy Car
“Love in the First Degree”, by Bananarama (“Last night I was dreaming I was locked in a prison cell.”)
Hi Dave N, Rick and all – for me, ‘prison references’ – which is how I’ve worded the topic in basic terms – includes references to literal prisons and metaphorical / figurative / poetic ones. Just about all the words that apply literally to prison (prison, chains, ball and chain, inmate, ‘behind bars’ etc.) can be used in a non-literal way as well. To make up an example, if a song lyric states ‘my mind is a prison’ or ‘you are a ball and chain’, the song is therefore on theme, as the reference is a prison-related one. Also, if the subject of the song is connected to a prison in some fashion but does not actually mention a prison by name (e.g ‘I Did What I Did for Maria’, with its ‘out in the courtyard they’re waiting for me’), the song is acceptable because the key figure has obviously been imprisoned / confined and is approaching his execution. I think that’s enough in definitional terms – with my themed pieces, I’m pretty loose and inclusive. Here, if you think the song links to the prison environment in some clear way – IT’S IN. Of course, some prison references will be stronger than others; often, it’s a matter of subjective judgement.
Phew! Let’s leave the issue there in terms of definitions.
As it stands, I think the comments are flowing along very nicely and interestingly, and the songs listed are on theme.
Thanks for the defining ‘prison’ comments KD. Here’s one right on target….
Alice’s Restaurant (1967) – Arlo Guthrie
‘After the ordeal, we went back to the jail. Obie said he was going to put
us in the cell. Said, “Kid, I’m going to put you in the cell, I want your
wallet and your belt.” And I said, “Obie, I can understand you wanting my
wallet so I don’t have any money to spend in the cell, but what do you
want my belt for?” And he said, “Kid, we don’t want any hangings.” I
said, “Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?”
I should add – many thanks, Dave N and Rick for your latest input, and to Anon and Fisho, for your latest song choices.
Many thanks for ‘Alice’s Restaurant’, Karl – love the quotation and its final line especially!
The Big Back Hat – Rolf Harris (Around his ankle was a big black chain and dragging on the chain was a big black ball).
Thanks for ‘The Big Black Hat’ – certainly a prison reference in that song, Fisho.
Thanks for explaining that KD, very clear, considered and most importantly, chill. Now on with the show!
A Week in a County Jail, Tom T, (Two days later when I thought that I had been forgotten/The sheriff came in chewin’ on a straw/He said, “where is the guy who thinks that this is indianapolis?/I’d like to talk to him about the law.”)
Turn it on, turn it on, turn it on, Tom T (another harrowing tale by the master)
Nebraska, Bruce (a wild, terrible tale based on a true story)
Highway Patrolman (where our protagonist should put the guy in jail but, when it’s your brother sometimes you look the other way)
Pay Me My Money Down, Trad/public domain but I’ll say the Bruce version is pretty good (Pay me my money down/Pay me or go to jail)
Cheers
“I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You”, by the Bee Gees. The song is about a prisoner who is on death row, who only has a few hours to live. He begs the prison chaplain to pass on a final message to his wife.
Jailhouse Blues – Leadbelly
Midnight Special – Leadbelly/CCT
Black and Blue – Chain
A tale they won’t believe – Weddings Parties Anything
“Born in the U.S.A.”, by Bruce Springsteen (“Down in the shadow of the penitentiary”)
“New York Minute”, by Eagles (“Somebody’s going to jail.”)
Meet me at the jailhouse: Wizzard
Here is the news: Electric Light Orchestra (need to listen to the made-up radio commentary in this one!)
Counting on me: James Reyne
Regrets: Ben Folds Five
US Forces: Midnight Oil
Somebody to love: Queen
“Nutbush City Limits”, by Ike & Tina Turner (“No whiskey for sale. You get caught, no bail. Salt pork and molasses is all you get in jail.”)
Some songs by Phil Ochs
There But for Fortune
“Show me a prison, show me a jail,
Show me a prisoner whose face has gone pale
And I’ll show you a young man with so many reasons why
And there but for fortune, may go you or I”
Here’s To The State of Mississippi.
“And here’s to the cops of Mississippi
They’re chewing their tobacco as they lock the prison door
And their bellies bounce inside them when they knock you to the floor
No, they don’t like taking prisoners in their private little wars
And behind their broken badges there are murderers and more”
Joe Hill
“Even President Wilson held up the day
But even he would fail
For nobody heard the soul searching words
Of the soul in the Salt Lake City jail”
Outside of a Small Circle of Friends
“Oh, there’s a dirty paper using sex to make a sale
The Supreme Court was so upset they sent him off to jail
Maybe we should help the fiend and take away his fine
But we’re busy reading Playboy and The Sunday New York Times”
Talking Vietnam Blues
“Friends the very next day we trained some more
We burned some villages down to the floor
Yes we burned out the jungles far and wide
Made sure those red apes had no place left to hide
Threw all the people in relocation camps
Under lock and key, made damn sure they’re free”
Celia
“When the wind from the island is rollin’ through the trees
When a kiss from a prison cell is carried in the breeze
That’s when I wonder how sad a man can be
Oh, when will Celia come to me?”
Notes. Phil Ochs was one of a group of young “folk” protest singers from the 1960. At the time he was considered second only to Dylan. Here’s to the State of Mississippi, written at the height of the Civil Rights struggle has a verse about all the institutions of Mississippi and the chorus was “Here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of, Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of”. Joe Hill is about the IWW union leader and songwriter who was framed and executed by the State of Utah. Celia is about a woman who was jailed in the Philippines during World War II and then kept in jail after the Americans had liberated the Philippines because the Americans didn’t like her politics.
Glad you found the definitional material I put forward clear and appropriate, Rick.
Excellent songs by excellent artists (Tom T Hall and Bruce) in your most recent contribution. ‘Turn It On, Turn It On, Turn It On’ is a personal favourite – what a splendid narrative song with a brilliant conclusion!
Thanks for your latest four songs, Anon – fine material there, in the selected work by the Bee Gees, Bruce, Eagles and the Turners.
Thank you, Willo, for your quartet of songs – great to see the Oz representation, too.
Thanks, Liam, for your quintet of quality, interesting songs – great variety, too.
Another thought connected to this quintet is what a good solo career James Reyne has had – he’s a bit under-appreciated, I feel.
Many thanks, Dave N, for your latest input – informative and highly interesting material, with illuminating quotations.
Here’s a Dylan song originally recorded for the Freewheelin’ album but not released until the 1991 Bootleg Series V1-3 box set. ‘Red Wing’ is a boys’ reform school.
Walls Of Red Wing (1963)
Oh, the age of the inmates I remember quite freely:
No younger than twelve, No older ‘n seventeen.
Thrown in like bandits And cast off like criminals,
Inside the walls, The walls of Red Wing.
…….Oh, some of us’ll end up In St. Cloud Prison,
And some of us’ll wind up To be lawyers and things,
Thank you, Karl, for this Dylan song – well quoted, highly interesting and right on theme.
Black and Blue – Matt Taylor and Chain.
The Pretenders “Back on the Chain Gang” is of course a song about addiction – relapse to heroin for Chrissy Hynde’s band members & lovers. She lost two in the early years of the band.
Prison is the metaphor – addiction is the subject – which suggests another interesting topic for your music thread – given musiician’s proclivity for life on the edge.
Cheers. Nostalgia seems the only thing that gets folks excited these days. Because prospects for the future are so gloomy? NostagiaNac?
Thanks, Dips – ‘Black and Blue’ is a great song, isn’t it? Ian Wilson also mentioned it a little further back in these comments.
Many thanks, Peter B, for your input. ‘Prison as metaphor’ is a major aspect of our current theme; of course, it could be seen as a sub-theme or theme-in-itself.
I always enjoy your comments and find them of considerable interest – but I’m not clear about what you’re getting at in relation to your nostalgia remark, as in where it connects to our present discussion. (Maybe it’s just me.) Anyway in connection with nostalgia, I’m reminded of one of my all-time favourite book titles: French actress Simone Signoret’s autobiography is titled Nostalgia Isn’t What It Used to Be. Wonderful!
The Birth of the Blues – Frank Sinatra
Hutchinson Jail – Nancy Sinatra
My “nostalgia” comment was definitely not a dig at you or your music pieces, which I enjoy. Just an observation about the morphing of overall Almanac content over the 15 years I’ve been involved – from match reports and current game issues to a broader coverage of social and cultural issues and footy reminscence. Not a criticism – just an observation – but very noticeable to me.
I sense it is a reflection to broader “Back to the Future” populism nostalgia. Doddering and demented octogenarian rulers. Fortress Australia/USA. Nuclear Power.
No rule changes in footy. Turn back the clock and everything will be ok, Not. Sleepwalking into the future.
Apologies if the cryptic nature of my comment caused any offence.
Thanks, Fisho, for the Sinatra pair of songs -two fine numbers there!
Thanks for your clarification, PB – no offence taken. I was just a bit puzzled, that’s all. Now I’m not puzzled.
Ultimately, my themed music pieces are what all contributors/those who comment make them. A person can be analytical, encyclopedic, scholarly, humorous, simply want some good songs to play, be entertained, or a mix of things like these. For me, in general terms, the comments are as important (probably more important) than the text and songs I lead off with.
“Are You Old Enough?”, by Dragon (“Ten years in the jailer’s eye”). Unfortunately this song doesn’t have nice lyrics but it still reached number 1 in Australia at the time.
Wanted Man – Shania Twain
The Prisoner’s Song – Vernon Dalhart
“Sweet Escape”, by Gwen Stefani. Although the lyrics themselves don’t contain any prison references, I believe the song gets a guernsey not only because of the title, but more importantly, the accompanying music video shows Stefani attempting to escape from a golden prison.
Prisoner of Love – Perry Como
Locked Inside Your Prison – Cliff Richard
Shackles & Chains (1937)
On a long lonesome journey I’m going/Throw your arms ’round my neck and don’t cry
Though in shackles and chains they will take me/To a prison to stay til I die
And at night through the bars I will gaze at the stars/And long for your sweet kiss in vain
A piece of stone I will use for my pillow/While I’m sleeping in shackles and chains
This sing was written & recorded by Jimmie Davis. He has an interesting story – lived to 101 and was there for the last 80 days of the 1800’s, lived through the entire 1900’s and died 310 days into the 2000’s! He was Governor of Louisiana for 2 terms (1944-48 & 1960-64). Although the original writer is disputed, Jimmie recorded & copyrighted ‘You Are My Sunshine’ in 1940 – a song which, in 1977, was legislated as the State song for Louisiana. In 1951, Jimmie & Hank Williams wrote ‘(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle’.
Back to Shackles & Chains – this song has been covered by close to 40 artists, including Marty Robbins, The Greenbriar Boys, Earl Scruggs & Tom T Hall, Merle Haggard. But my favourite cover & where I first came across the song is by Arlo Guthrie off his 1972 Hobo’s Lullaby album.
“You Give Love a Bad Name”, by Bon Jovi (“Chains of love got a hold on me. When passion’s a prison, you can’t break free.”)
“Should’ve Known Better”, by Richard Marx (“Now I’m a prisoner to this pain.”)
Waiting around to die, Townes
Ira Hayes, Johnny
Cocaine Blues, Johnny
Christmas in Prison, Mr Prine
How’d you get this number, Guy Clark
Thanks, Anon, for your most recent bunch of songs, all, in their various ways, relevant to our overall theme.
Thank you, Fisho, for your latest four.
To select just one for comment, the Vernon Dalhart recording of ‘The Prisoner’s Song’ from the nineteen-twenties is certainly an interesting and important song in the history of Country music.
Many thanks, Karl, for the Jimmie Davis song and accompanying detail. Interesting material indeed, some of which has come up before in one of our themed music pieces. Davis is certainly a fascinating character with a colourful and interesting life.
Thanks for your latest lot, Rick – songs by fine artists indeed.
As usual, collectively we’re compiling a wonderful songlist.
Rock around the Rock Pile – the Ray Anthony Orchestra (from the Girl can’t Help It).
Thanks, Fisho, for your most recent choice – a fun song from an iconic rock’n’roll film of the fifties.
Another early Dylan song, originally recorded in 1963 for ‘The Times They Are A-Changin” album but not released until the 2010 ‘Bootleg Series Vol 9 – Witmark Demos’ album:
Seven Curses
Old Reilly stole a stallion
But they caught him and they brought him back
And they laid him down in the jailhouse ground
With an iron chain around his neck
This is one of many versions of songs that deal with paying a price to avoid the gallows pole.
In the song the daughter pleads for her fathers release; the judge lustfully offers an exchange:
”Sayin’, “Gold will never free your father
The price, my dear, is you instead”
That night, the daughter pays ‘the price’ only to find:
The next mornin’ she had awoken
To find that the judge had never spoken
She saw that hangin’ branch a-bendin’
She saw her father’s body broken.
Thank you for Dylan’s ‘Seven Curses’, Karl, and the excellent accompanying detail.
(Sidenote: maybe it’s an obvious thing to say, but so much bootleg material is connected to Dylan – seemingly more than any other musical artist in history.)
That’s very true KD.
I understand that ‘Great White Wonder’ which contains very early ‘unreleased’ Dylan recordings is one of the first bootlegs of the modern era – obviously I have a copy. The commercial success of ‘unofficial bootlegs’ – to which I confess to making a decent financial contribution – created a more sophisticated underground ‘industry’.
It is of interest then that Dylan called the series of box sets/albums that ‘OFFICIALLY’ released his previously unreleased recordings ‘The Bootleg Series’. The series began in 1991, with Vol 1-3 and in 2023 Vol 17 was released. As the saying goes, if you can’t beat them, join them!
More Dylan – on ‘prison’ theme to come…….
Thanks, Karl – informative, illuminating material as always.
I look forward to your further ‘prison theme’ song choices with great interest.
Long Line Rider – Bobby Darin
Prisoner of Love – Connie Francis
Someone To Love Me (The Prisoner’s Song) – Brenda Lee
Thanks, Fisho – three fine songs there!
Interesting theme KD. “Take a Message to Mary” by the Everly Brothers (probably written by the Bryants) springs to mind.
Holloway Jail – The Kinks
Birmingham Jail – written and performed by Peggy Lee
The Merle Haggard collection:
Several great Merle prison songs have already been raised in this thread, and here’s a few more. If you know a bit about his childhood, formative years and into his twenties you won’t be surprised by why jail is a recurring theme in his songwriting, at least in the first two decades. He literally was the inmate listening intently when Johnny Cash played at a prison where he was serving time (not the famous 68 Folsom live show). Raised in a good working class home, his father dies young and Merle goes off the tracks. A teenage delinquent, whose saving graces if they can be called that are his rudimentary guitar playing, great voice and smouldering Brando looks.
He see Cash live and he’s hooked. Literally changes his ways, with a clear focus, become a singer. Doors open as they say and he is on his way. Then he starts writing songs and bang he sprints to the head of the country pack in less than five years. His first half a dozen records are quite incredible and include these songs as well as the killer, Sing Me Back Home, mentioned earlier in this thread. He walks that difficult tightrope for a songwriter/poet in balancing a journalistic eye for important telling details and an emotional heart, that can draw you in and feel like his tale is part of a greater truth.
Mama Tried (I turned twenty-one in prison doin’ life without parole/No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried/Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied/That leaves only me to blame ’cause Mama tried)
I’m a Lonesome Fugitive (I’m a hunted fugitive with just two ways/Outrun the law or spend my life in jail)
Life in Prison (covered but not bettered by The Byrds)
I Made the Prison Band (Av lighter touch song, not without undercurrents of sadness and rage)
Branded Man (If I live to be a hundred, I guess I’ll never clear my name/’Cause everybody knows I’ve been in jail)
Thanks, DB, for the song performed by Phil and Don – a fine addition to our prison-related songlist. And those Everly harmonies are certainly at their beautiful best in this number.
Thanks, Fisho, for your latest two songs, highlighting actual jail names.
Here’s another one, co-written and performed by Spike Milligan, the fabulous and inspired ‘The Wormwood Scrubs Tango’. (Check it out, all interested Almanackers!)
Many thanks, Rick, for your latest material – you really are our ‘go to’ person when it comes to the life and work of Merle Haggard. Indeed, you’ve compelled me to get to know his music better – and that’s a fine thing!
A Front Row Seat To Hear Ole Johnny Sing – Shel Silverstein. (Shel was also the writer of Boy Named Sue)
Four Walls – Cold Chisel
I feel So Good – Richard Thompson (“They put me in jail for my deviant ways Two years, seven months and sixteen days Now I’m back on the street in a purple haze”)
The Hostage – Tom Paxton (a song about the Attica prison uprising)
The Ould Alarm Clock – Dominic Behan (either written by Dominic or his older brother Brendan) A young Irish Rebel in the late 1930s brings an alarm clock and some gelignite to London but is apprehended by the police. This was actually Brendan Behan’s story recounted in Borstal Boy
“O the judge says listen here my man and I’ll tell you of a plan
For you and all your countrymen I do net give a damm
Well the only time you’ll take is mine, ten years in Dartmoor dock
And you can count it by the ticking, of your old alarm clock.”
Great material, Dave – many thanks. I remember reading Borstal Boy back in the day, incidentally.
Kinky Friedman left us last week.
Off the top of my head I’m struggling to think of too many of his songs that referenced jails. His detective novels had references to incarceration, but songs?
The ‘Ballad of Charles Whitman’ referenced a serial killer who would have gone to jail if not dying first. Kinky did do a cover of Peter La Farge’s ‘The Ballad of Ira Hayes’, containing the line, ” Jail was often his home.”
Glen!
Really good, relevant material – thanks, Glen.
There’s lots of songs where the punishment was overly severe – especially if you were poor or black.
Dylan wrote a few songs where he put the spotlight on the reverse – where power & privilege led to being exonerated (eg Death Of Emmitt Till) or where the sentence did not fit the crime….
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (1964)
William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll
With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger…….
In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel
To show that all’s equal and that the courts are on the level…..
And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished
And handed out strongly for penalty and repentance
William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence……
Thanks, Karl, for the interesting, nuanced commentary and for ‘The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll’ in particular.
Will You Visit Me on Sunday? – Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
Prisoner – Cher
Many thanks, Fisho – keep ’em coming!
Arrested by You – Dusty Springfield
Allentown Jail – Dusty Springfield
Darwin Jailhouse Window – Tex Morton
Ned Kelly – Lee Kernaghan
From Small Things, Big Things Come, Bruce but Dave Edmunds cover is A! on the jukebox
Jailhouse Tears, Lucinda and Little Elvis
Tupelo County Jail, Webb Pierce (and if you ain’t heard his stuff, you’re in for a treat)
Life to Go, Stonewall Jackson (written late 50s by George Jones)
Weekender, Margo Price (another youngish highly rated country singer who hit big in 2016 and hasn’t slipped since!)
Just checking out Rick’s recommendation re Webb Pierce.
Seems like before Tupelo County Jail (1959), he recorded a song called:
In The Jailhouse Now (1955)
Hey Karl, yep Webb does an excellent version but I thought someone had already put up Jimmy Roger’s version. Cheers
You are quite right Rick…I should’ve checked but the list is getting quite long now – almost at the magical 100!
BTW – I’m working on a new Dylan covers article which you should find most interesting:
Dylan Covers – Aussie Country Style
Hope to have it on site by next Tuesday. Cheers.
“Lovin’ Each Day”, by Ronan Keating (“Cause without your kissin’ my heart’s just a prison”)
“Gold”, by Spandau Ballet (“And love is like a high prison wall”)
“The Living Years”, by Mike & The Mechanics (“I know that I’m a prisoner to all my Father held so dear. I know that I’m a hostage to all his hopes and fears.”)
Congratulations to the Almanac Music Readers on reaching another well deserved century!
Thanks for your latest song choices, Fisho – Tex Morton’s ‘Darwin Jailhouse Window’ is one of the jauntiest ‘prison songs’ I’ve ever heard!
Thank you for your latest lot, Rick. I just had a listen to ‘Tupelo County Jail’ – to cite one – and you’re right, it was a treat, surprisingly upbeat, perhaps, given the place the singer wants the letter sent.
Thanks for your most recent input, Karl – I look forward to your upcoming Dylan piece.
Thank you, Anon – a few neat ‘singles’ from you and another century was obtained. Well done to all involved!
Thanks for the tip Karl, very much looking forward to that!
And if you don’t mind, I’m gunna slip in a Dylan song (pretty sure it hasn’t been noted in this thread), George Jackson. One of my faves. The prison reference was on loop in my mind back when I was teaching in the 80s.
Then there’s The Prisoner, The Clash (about yer circumstances being a prison). Also by The Clash, Jail Guitar Doors which has an excellent back story as well as an inspiring initiative come from it)
And I don’t think we have ventured into the hip-hop genre, so here goes. Prisoner 1&2, Lupe Fiasco (we saw Lupe at a Melbourne Zoo Twilight gig maybe 15 years ago)
Finally Johnny Cash with a Harlan Howard song, The Wall (he newspapers called it a jailbreak plan/But I know it was suicide, I know it was suicide). If you’re not familiar with Harlan Howard get on to it, an incredible songwriter from I Fall to Pieces, Heartaches BY the Number, Tiger by the Tail, Streets of Baltimore and so many more. He called songwriting, three chords and the truth.
Cheers
Dylan – Percy’s Song (1963) – studio outtake. eventually released on 1985’s ‘Biograph’ compilation album.
‘Joliet prison and ninety-nine years…..
That may be true, he’s got a sentence to serve
But ninety-nine years, he just don’t deserve…..
Too late, too late for his case it is sealed
His sentenced is passed and it cannot be repealed….
Arlo Guthrie does a decent cover on his 1970 ‘Washington County’ album.
Hey Rick – just noticed you put in Dylan’s ‘George Jackson’ – it was the next on my list to add to this collection!!!
I’ll add the final verse which is very on theme
‘Sometimes I think this whole world
Is one big prison yard
Some of us are prisoners
The rest of us are guards’
The chronology of the song is interesting:
George (Black Panther leader) was shot & killed in San Quentin Prison on 21 August 1971
Dylan wrote the song & recorded it on 4 November 1971 (an acoustic version & big band version)
The songs (both versions) were released on a single just on one week later – 12 November 1971
Sorry to “steal” the Dylan song Karl and yep, that’s the verse that would be on loop!
Cheers
Thank you, Rick and Karl, for your latest material – interesting indeed.
And Rick, good to see your foray into hip-hop territory – a rare excursion in our themed songlists and accompanying discussions.
More Dylan?
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (1963)
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
Where the executioner’s face is always well hidden
Thank you, Karl, for your latest Dylan. Although it has been so wisely ‘exposed’ and covered, ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ remains just about my favourite Dylan song – or among the top few, anyway.
Time for some upcomers:
American Dreaming, Sierra Ferrell (her latest single, damn good, in one line she describes the van she’s travelling in as a prison cell)
Banded Clovis, Tyler Childers (interesting and complex murder tale but guy ends up in prison reflecting on his not so good deeds and as for the title, that refers to a Native American spearhead and the reason for the murder)
It’s Nothing to Me, Charley Crockett (cover of a 1950s Leon Payne song. Yes the same Leon Payne who wrote Psycho, covered by Little Elvis – kinda good verson – and Beasts of Burborn – dreadful version. However, he is far better known as the writer of one of Hanks best songs, Lost Highway and covered by everyone, including Charley Crockett)
Revival, Zach Bryan (I’ve raved on Zach previously, in this song he reference’s Merle’s song Mama Tried and prison, which is cool, also, Springsteen has joined Zach on stage to sing this damn fine tune)
Hi Karl – I should add a correction here – in my latest response to you, I meant to say in the second sentence ‘Although it has been so widely “exposed” …’ meaning that the song has received so much airtime / general attention.
Brilliant, Rick – thanks so much for your ‘upcomers’ and the accompanying interesting detail.
Hey KD!
I’m back on the chain gang digging up more ‘prison’ themed songs.
Dylan – Chimes Of Freedom – recorded 60 years ago on 9 June 1964
‘And for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin”
Thanks for ‘Chimes of Freedom’, Karl.
I’ve had a particular ‘prison reference’ song swirling in my head for a few days, and now (this morning) realised it was Elton John’s catchy ‘Ball and Chain’ from 1982. A quick bit of research also indicated that there’s a bunch of different songs with this title, which doesn’t surprise me.
Great call re Chimes, and Bruce does an excellent version as well.
Now a bit of early 70s country rock:
You Never Even Called Me by My Name, David Allan Coe (written by Steve Goodman and [uncredited] John Prine)
Sweet Revenge, John Prine
My Songbird, Jesse Winchester
Friend of the Devil, Grateful Dead
Prisoner of Freedom, New Riders of the Purple Sage (and not from the 70s)
Excellent, Rick – thanks for these country rock numbers – the ‘prison theme’ is a remarkably versatile one in terms of its connection to all kinds of song genres.
And following on from my comment about Elton John’s ‘Ball and Chain’, just above, Big Mama Thornton and Janis Joplin (for example) recorded a blues number by this name (which big Mama actually wrote), Duran Duran had a different song with the title, as did Dua Lipa… and there are still more!
I don’t think “Kevin Barry” has been mentioned.
Can I also express my gratitude to Dave N. for the Phil Ochs references.
Hey KD, if we had the energy the prison theme thread could probably run to 1000 songs. Songs are popping into my head at all times of the day.
I so want to squeeze Brown Eyed Handsome Man by Chuck Berry in here, based on the first verse, but due to an intervention in the courtroom our protagonist doesn’t go to jail. The song is cracker, it’s political, satirical, scandalous and pitch perfect funny. Just one example that has my mind wrestling with whether Chuck not Bob is the best lyricist popular music has produced. Anyways, I’m rambling.
Then there’s these:
Mississippi Goddam, Nina Simone (protest song, bang on point and you can drown in Nina’s voice)
Prison Grove, Warren Zevon (last album I think, and he’s doing what he does best, wrapping the real with the metaphorical)
Stay Free, The Clash (Close to Mick’s best song, I wished him happy birthday on Twitter a few years back, citing the last lines of this song and he replied to me! Yes, I was on a high for days)
Take a Long Line, The Angels (locked him up in solitary, so it sneaks in)
King Kunta, Kendrick Lamar (more hip-hop and speaking of great songwriters Kendrick would be way up high in Cohen’s Tower of Song)
Thanks for your input, Peter F.
‘Kevin Barry’ needs some elaboration, I feel. Wikipedia describes it as ‘a popular Irish rebel song recounting the death of Kevin Barry, a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) who was hanged on 1 November 1920.’ The song (author unknown) has been recorded by quite a few – a prominent version is by The Wolfe Tones.
Of course, you’re right, Rick, this prison theme thread could go on for a very long time. I suppose all we can do in the thread is the best we can within reason – I’m finding it among the most interesting so far, out of all the themed threads we’ve compiled. Many thanks for your latest additions.
Peter’s song and your comment KD reminded me of another Irish song, that I wrote about for Stereo Stories. It’s a heartbreaking tale.
Grace, by Jim McCann, based on a true story following the Easter uprising 1916 and set at Kilmainham Gaol.
Thanks for ‘Grace’, Rick – it’s certainly a beautiful song.
I’ll check out your Stereo Stories piece, too.
Double Dylan Day!
Subterranean Homesick Blues (1965)
Get jailed, jump bail
Join the army, if you fail
Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream (1965)
Just then a cop come down the street, crazy as a loon
And throws us all in jail for carryin’ harpoons
Thank you, Karl – fine material indeed!
Dylan – I Am A Lonesome Hobo (1967)
I have tried my hand at bribery
Blackmail and deceit
And I’ve served time for everything
‘Cept beggin’ on the street
Dylan – Joey (1975)
“What time is it?” said the judge to Joey when they met
“Five to ten,” said Joey. The judge says, “That’s exactly what you get”
Thanks, Karl, for your latest song choice.
Your quoting of ‘served time’ in the lyric reminds me of another – perhaps surprising – song with a prison reference, John Lennon’s wonderful ‘Watching The Wheels’ (released posthumously, 1981): ‘I tell them there’s no hurry, I’m just sitting here doing time…’
Our last comments crossed Karl – just saw ‘Joey’. Thank you for that one.
Its reggae time:
Burnin’ and Lootin’, Trench Town (not to be confused with Trench Town Rock), She’s Gone, Bob Marley
54 46 was my Number, Toots and the Maytals
Nah Goa Jail, Peter Tosh
Great to get more reggae – thanks, Rick. I’m partial to the genre – that’s why I kicked off this theme including the Heptones’ version of ‘I Shall Be Released’.
Hey KD – liked your connection of John Lennon ‘doing time’ to the theme – a brilliant stretch!
Now for a change, how about some mariachi music I discovered by while researching Dylan covers?
Mariachi Le Bronx – Cell Mates (Live) – available on you tune if you have the time.
Hey Karl, love Mariachi El Bronx are a great band, seen them in concert a couple of times. Cheers
John Sinclair, Born in a Prison, Lennon (KD and Karl triggered a memory of the JS song, I went looking and lo and behold, a Yoko penned song on same album)
I’m not in Prison, The Jayhawks (from their first album)
Prison without Prison Bars, The Alarm (from a few years ago, 30 years after they had their success)
Orleans Parish Prison, Johnny (not a Johnny original but the sentiment is very Johnny)
I didn’t see these in the comments above, but apologies if I missed them:
Whisky in the jar – Thin Lizzy
Four walls – Cold Chisel
Tomorrow – Cold Chisel
Down in the tube station at midnight – The Jam (they smelled of pubs and Wormwood Scrubs …)
Hi Karl. Glad you liked the Lennon inclusion – quite often, the less obvious inclusions to these themed songlists are the most interesting. Thanks for Mariachi Le Bronx – ‘Cell Mates’ (Live) – just had a listen and enjoyed it. I really like mariachi material in general.
Thanks, Rick, for your latest bunch – I do like how, in relation to our themed songlists, one new inclusion can generate more songs from other contributors. This seems to be more apparent once the songlist concerned has become very big.
Many thanks, Greg, for your input.
These songlists become hard to check through in detail once they become very long; in this context, I do go through them regularly in an effort to keep on top of things, but it’s easy to miss stuff (e.g. ‘Four Walls’ has already been mentioned). As I’ve written before, multiple mentions of the same song are – understandably – almost inevitable.
Hi KD
Here’s a Dylan lyric that. perhaps, could only come from the pen of Dylan
Political World (1989) – opening track from the Oh Mercy album:
We live in a political world
Wisdom is thrown into jail
It rots in a cell misguided as hell
Leaving no one to pick up the trail
Thanks, Karl – these are wise words indeed (as is to be expected, I suppose).
Convict Streak, Dave Warner (reminding Australians of our heritage, as prisoners)
Rude boys outta jail, The Specials (very early Specials song, ska at its best)
Les Prison Du Roy, Edith Piaf (I know, Ricky just got classy, with a hauntingly beautiful Piaf rendition of an American folk song)
Columbus Stockade Blues, Doc Watson (one of the great bluegrass/country guitar players puts his unique stamp on an old country favourite)
Dublin Blues, Guy Clark (Guy cites Doc singing CSB in my absolute fave Guy song, lines in this song bring a tear every time)
Nice variety in your latest bunch, Rick – many thanks, plus an extra gold star for the wonderful Piaf song!
Hey KD – my final Bob lyric….
Cold Irons Bound (1997)
‘You got no idea what you did to me
Lord, I’m 20 miles out of town in cold irons bound’
Several interpretations of this songs are:
*he’s on his way to jail; maybe he killed her.
* he is chained to a doomed love, destroying any semblance of joy or comfort
Anyway, I think it just sneaks into the ‘prison’ related theme…..
Thanks, Karl – yes, this one certainly gets into our prison theme songlist – and thank you so much for your input to this theme in general.
Here’s some oblique takes on the theme, including locked away on Remand, or in a Drunk Tank, held for questioning, working in a prison and life as prison:
Rotting on Remand, Billy Bragg
Southern Accents, Tom Petty
Sequestered in Memphis, The Hold Steady
Hands of Time, Margo Price
Junco Partner, James Waynes all the way through to The Clash (and with a wild and weird back story, highlighting how songs evolve/mutate, begging the Barthes question about authorship)
Here’s a warning to all of us of advancing age from the equally elderly Neil Young (although he wrote the song in 1985 when he was 40):
Old Ways
‘It’s hard to teach a dinosaur a new trick
Lately I’ve been finding out
I’m set in my ways
Old ways, can be your ball and chain’
Thanks, Karl, your latest song choice is an especially good pickup, with its ‘ball and chain’ line.
Here’s one by Aztec Camera – Over My Head (from the excellent 1990 ‘Stray’ album)
‘Over my head, over my head
And I can’t get free from these chains
Over my head go the things that we said
And I long to be above pain’
And with your reply, congratulations on an outstanding 150!
Thank you for the Aztec Camera song, Karl.
And yes, congrats to all involved on reaching our 150 with this prison theme!
A Very late inclusion. I just remembered this song that seemed appropriate to this thread. While the song is by “Trad” it is based on a real man and a real story (see entry in Wikipedia). The lyrics that I have printed are from The Dubliners. Ewan MacColl had a better version but I can’t find it on the net and I don’t have it in my record collection.
McCafferty
When I was eighteen years of age
Into the army I did engage
I left my home with a good intent
For to join the forty-second regiment
While I was posted on guard one day
Some soldiers’ children came out to play
From the officers’ quarters my captain came
And he ordered me for to take their names
I took one name instead of three
On neglect of duty they then charged me
I was confined to barracks with loss of pay
For doing my duty the opposite way
A loaded rifle I did prepare
For to shoot my captain in the barracks square
It was my captain I meant to kill
But I shot my colonel against my will
At Liverpool Assizes my trial I stood
And I held my courage as best I could
Then the old judge said, Now, McCafferty
Go prepare your soul for eternity
I had no father to take my part
No loving mother to break her heart
I had one friend and a girl was she
Who’d lay down her life for McCafferty
So come all you officers take advice from me
And go treat your men with some decency
For it’s only lies and a tyranny
That have made a murderer of McCafferty
(as sung by The Dubliners)
Wonderful lyrics, and so apt thematically – thanks, Dave.