Name: Who's In the Jailhouse Now?
Duration: P00H04M35S
Description: Written by Matt Rivers way back in 2015. This song has undergone many iterations, I've added and taken away many verses and will probably continue to do so. This is it's current form.

Who's In the Jailhouse Now?

from The First Shall Be The Last by Matt Rivers

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Written by Matt Rivers way back in 2015. This song has undergone many iterations, I've added and taken away many verses and will probably continue to do so. This is it's current form.

lyrics

There was a cop in Minnesota
Who just had to make his quota
Saw me, one day, singing on the street
He pulled out his bully club
And into my back he shoved
But as I fell I didn’t miss a beat
I’m in the jailhouse now
I’m in the jailhouse now
He said I disturbed the peace
As he smashed my face in grease
I’m in the jailhouse now

Well the Wall Street Occupation
Was a peaceful demonstration
But the cops came out to show just who they served
And as the people choked on smoke
All the sheeple joked and spoke
And said “those lazy commies got what they deserved”
They’re in the jailhouse now
They’re in the jailhouse now
They told the rich they didn’t need ‘em
So the cops came down and beat ‘em
They’re in the jailhouse now

Well the Senate passed a bill
To bend the people to their will
Called the National Defense Authorization Act
And at the next protest they’ll insist
That you’re a terrorist
That way they won’t need a single fact
And you’ll be jailhouse bound
Yeah you’ll be jailhouse bound
If you try to speak your mind
You’ll be in Gitmo, doing time
Yeah you’ll be jailhouse bound

Lady Liberty she swore
Give me your tired, and your poor
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free
But when they got here, tu sabes
They ripped mothers from their babes
In the US we spell freedom I-C-E
They’re in the jailhouse now
They’re in the jailhouse now
If you’re coming up through Mexico
You’ll be in a cell, how long, who knows?
They’re in the jailhouse now

credits

from The First Shall Be The Last, released May 1, 2023

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about

Matt Rivers

Matt Rivers is a modern relic & torchbearer for the old ways of song craft & performance; following in the footsteps of such artists as: Woody Guthrie, Blind Willie McTell, Harry McClintock, & countless nameless & forgotten forebears of the folk tradition. ... more

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