Highway Patrolman

My name is Joe Roberts I work for the State I'm a sergeant out on Perenville Barracks number eight I've always done an honest job Honest as I could Got a brother named Frankie Frankie ain't no good And ever since we were young kids It's been the same come down I'd get a call on a short way Frankie's in trouble downtown But if it was any other man I'd put him straight away But sometimes when it's your brother You look the other way Yeah, me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin' Nothin' feels better than blood on blood Takin' turns dancin' with Maria While the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood" I catch him when he's strayin' Like any brother should Man turns his back on his family He ain't no good Well, Frankie went into the army Back in 1965 I got a farm deferment Settled down, took Maria for my wife But them wheat prices kept on droppin' 'Til it was like we's gettin' robbed Frankie came home in '68 Me, I took this job Yeah, me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin' Nothin' feels better than blood on blood Takin' turns dancin' with Maria While the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood" I catch him when he's strayin' Teach him how to walk that line Man turns his back on his family Ain't no friend of mine The night was like any other I got a call 'bout a quarter to nine There was trouble at a roadhouse Out on the Michigan line There was a kid on the floor lookin' bad Bleedin' hard from his head There was a girl cryin' at a table It was Frankie, she said I ran out and I jumped in my car Then I hit the lights I must have done about a hundred and ten Through Michigan County that night It was down by the crossroads Out 'bout willow bank Seen the Buick with Ohio plates Behind the wheel was Frank Well, I chased him through them county roads 'Til the sign said, "Canadian border five miles from here" Pulled over to the south out the highway Watched the taillights disappear Yeah, me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin' Nothin' feels better than blood on blood Takin' turns dancin' with Maria While the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood" I catch him when he's strayin' Like any brother should Man turns his back on his family He ain't no good