Smuggler’s Blues
There’s trouble on the street tonight,
I can feel it in my bones.
I had a premonition,
That he should not go alone.
I knew the gun was loaded,
But I didn’t think he’d kill.
Everything exploded,
And the blood began to spill.
So baby, here’s your ticket,
With your suitcase in your hand.
Here’s a little money now,
Do it just the way we planned.
You be cool for twenty hours
And I’ll pay you twenty grand.
I’m sorry it went down like this,
Someone had to lose,
It’s the nature of the business,
It’s the smuggler’s blues, smuggler’s blues.
The sailors and pilots,
The soldiers and the law,
The pay-offs and the rip-offs,
And the things nobody saw.
No matter if it’s heroin, cocaine, or hash,
You got to carry weapons
‘Cause you always carry cash.
There’s lots of shady characters,
Lots of dirty deals.
Every name’s an alias
In case somebody squeals.
It’s the lure of easy money,
It’s got a very strong appeal.
Perhaps you’d understand it better
Standin’ in my shoes,
It’s the ultimate enticement,
It’s the smuggler’s blues, smuggler’s blues.
You can see it in the headlines,
You hear it everyday.
They say they’re gonna stop it,
But it doesn’t go away.
They move it through Miami and sell it in LA,
They hide it up in Telluride,
I mean it’s here to stay.
Proppin’ up the governments in Columbia and Peru,
You ask any DA man,
They’ll say "There’s nothin’ we can do",
From the office of the President,
Right down to me and you, me and you.
It’s a losing proposition,
But one you can’t refuse.
It’s the politics of contraband,
It’s the smuggler’s blues, smuggler’s blues.