A Week In A Country Jail Lyrics

One time I spent a week inside a little country jail
And I don't guess I'll ever live it down
I was sittin' at a red light when these two men came and got me
And said that I was speeding through their town

Well, they said,"Tomorrow morning you can see the judge then go"
They let me call one person on the phone
I thought I'd be there overnight so I just called my boss
To tell him I'd be off but not for long

Well, they motioned me inside a cell with seven other guys
One little barred up window in the rear
My cellmates said if they had let me bring some money in
We ought to send the jailer for some beer

Well, I had to pay him double 'cause he was the man in charge
And the jailer's job was not the best in town
Later on his wife brought hot bologna, eggs and gravy
The first day I was there I turned it down

Well, next morning they just let us sleep but I was up real early
Wonderin' when I'd get my release
Later on we got more hot bologna, eggs and gravy
And by now I wasn't quite so hard to please

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"

Well, I told him who I was and told him I was working steady
And I really should be gettin' on my way
That part about me bein' who I was did not impress him
He said, "The judge'll be here any day"

The jailer had a wife and let me tell you she was awful
But she brought that hot bologna every day
And after seven days she got to lookin' so much better
I asked her if she'd like to run away

The next mornin' that old judge took every nickel that I had
And he said, "Son, let this teach you not to race"
The jailer's wife was smilin' from the window as I left
In thirty minutes I was out of state

Tom T. Hall - Storyteller, Poet, Philosopher

Nov 1995

1. Magnificent Music Machine
2. A Million Miles To The City
3. I Washed My Face In The Morning Dew
4. The Hitch-Hiker
5. Ballad Of Forty Dollars
6. I Hope It Rains At My Funeral
7. Turn It On, Turn It On, Turn It On
8. Strawberry Farms
9. Watergate Blues
10. I Want To See The Parade
11. 100 Children
12. The Year That Clayton Delaney Died
13. The Son Of Clayton Delaney
14. The Old Side Of Town
15. I Can't Dance
16. Last Of The Drifters
17. Mama Bake A Pie (Daddy Kill A Chicken)
18. A Week In A Country Jail
19. Spokane Motel Blues
20. Homecoming
21. Hello, We're Lonely
22. Down At The Mall
23. Fox On The Run
24. Shoeshine Man
25. Flat-Footin' It
26. Old Five And Dimers Like Me
27. Willy The Wandering Gypsy And Me
28. More About John Henry
29. Give Her My Best
30. Pamela Brown
31. I Flew Over Our House Last Night
32. Molly And Tenbrooks
33. The Monkey That Became President
34. That's How I Got To Memphis
35. Mama's Got The Catfish Blues
36. Day Drinkin'
37. Salute To A Switchblade
38. Margie's At The Lincoln Park Inn
39. Subdivision Blues
40. America The Ugly
41. Hang Them All (Get The Guilty)
42. Levi Jones
43. Faster Horses (The Cowboy And The Poet)
44. I'm Forty Now
45. Me And Jesus