Well, the cop made the showdown He was sure he was right He had all of the lowdown From the bank heist last night His best friend was the robber And his wife was a thief All the children were killers They couldn't get no relief The bungalow was surrounded When a voice loud and clear Said, Come on out with your hands up Or we'll blow you out of here There was a face in the window The TV cameras rolled Then they cut to the announcer And the story was told The artist looked at the producer The producer sat back He said, What we have got here Is a perfect track But we don't have a vocal And we don't have a song If we could get these things accomplished Nothin' else could go wrong So he balanced the ashtray As he picked up the phone And said, Send me a songwriter Who's drifted far from home And make sure that he's hungry Make sure he's alone Send me a cheeseburger And a new Rolling Stone Yeah There's still crime in the city Said the cop on the beat I don't know if I can stop it I feel like meat on the street They paint my car like a target I take my orders from fools Meanwhile some kid blows my head off Well, I play by their rules That's why I'm doin' it my way I took the law in my hands So here I am in the alleyway A wad of cash in my pants I get paid by a ten year old He says he looks up to me There's still crime in the city But it's good to be free Yeah Now I come from a family That has a broken home Sometimes I talk to Daddy On the telephone When he says that he loves me I know that he does But I wish I could see him I wish I knew where he was But that's the way all my friends are Except maybe one or two Wish I could see him this weekend Wish I could walk in his shoes But now I'm doin' my own thing Sometimes I'm good, then I'm bad Although my home has been broken It's the best home I ever had Yeah Well, I keep gettin' younger My life's been funny that way Before I ever learned to talk I forgot what to say I sassed back to my mom I sassed back to my teacher I got thrown out of Bible school For sassin' back at the preacher Then I grew up to be a fireman Put out every fire in town Put out anything smokin' But when I put the hose down The judge sent me to prison He gave me life without parole Wish I never put the hose down Wish I never got old [Bluenote Cafe' and other 1988 versions] There's a judge in the city He goes to work every day He spends his life in the courthouse Keeps his perspective that way But I respect his decision He's got a lot on his mind He's little heavy with the gavel But he's light on the fines One day there was this minstrel Who came to town on a charge That he blew someone's ears off Because his amp was too large And the song he was singin' Was not for love but for cash Well, the judge waived the charges He fingered his mustache Well, the jailhouse was empty All the criminals were gone The gate was left wide open And a buck and fawn Were eating grass in the work yard When the warden walked in And took a rifle from the prison guard And said to him with a grin To shoot those deer would be stupid We already got 'em right here Why not just lock the gates and keep them With intimidation and fear? But the warden pulled the trigger And those deer hit the ground He said nobody'll know the difference And they both looked around There's still crime in the city Said the cop on the beat I don't know if I can stop it I feel like meat on the street They paint my car like a target I take my orders from fools Meanwhile some kid blows my head off Well, I play by their rules That's why I'm doing it my way I took the law in my own hands And here I am in the alleyway A wad of cash in my pants I get paid by a ten year old He says he looks up to me There's still crime in the city But it's good to be free Well, I keep getting younger My life's been funny that way Before I ever learned how to talk I forgot what to say Sassed back to my mummy Sassed back to the teacher Got thrown out of Bible school For givin' the finger to the preacher And I grew up to be a fireman I put out every fire in town Put out everything smoking But when I put the hose down The judge sent me to prison He gave me life without parole Wish I never put the hose down Wish I never got old.