album cover
Tom Ames' Prayer
11
Country
Tom Ames' Prayer was released on March 25, 2011 by John Mitchell & Sofie Jonsson as a part of the album Western Highways
album cover
Release DateMarch 25, 2011
LabelJohn Mitchell & Sofie Jonsson
LanguageEnglish
Melodicness
Acousticness
Valence
Danceability
Energy
BPM94

Music Video

Music Video

Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS
John Mitchell
John Mitchell
Performer
Sofie Jonsson
Sofie Jonsson
Performer
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Composer, Songwriter, Lyrics

Lyrics

Everyone in Nacadoches knew Tom Ames
Was coming to some bad end
'Cause the sheriff caught him stealing chickens and such
By the time that he was ten
One day his daddy took a ten-dollar bill
Tucked it in his hand
He said, "I know you're headed for trouble, son
Your mama wouldn't understand"
So he took his dad's money and his brother's old bay
Left without a word of thanks
And he fell in with this crowd in some border town
And took to robbing banks
Outside of the law, his luck went out fast
And a few years came and went
'Til he trapped in an alley in Abilene
All before his shelf spent
And he realized praying was the only thing
That he ain't ever tried
But he wasn't sure he quite knew how
He looked up to the sky
He said, "You don't owe me nothing and as far as I know
Lord, I don't owe nothing to you
I ain't asking for a miracle, Lord
A little bit of luck will do
You know, I ain't never tried praying before
It always seemed to me
That praying's the same as begging, Lord
And I don't take no charity"
Right now, Lord, with my back to the wall
Can't help but recall
How they nearly hung me for stealing a horse
In Fort Smith, Arkansas
Judge Parker said, "Guilty," and the gavel came down
Just like a cannon shot
I went away quietly
And I began to file a plot
They sent the preacher on down into my cell
And he said, "The Lord's your only hope
He's the only friend that you're gonna have, son
When you hit the end of Parker's rope"
And I guess he coulda kept on preaching 'til Christmas
But he turned his back on me
I put a homemade blade to that golden throat
And asked the deputy for the key
It ain't the first kind of trouble that I've seen before
But that you already know
I've had some help from you, Lord, and the devil himself
But it's strictly touch and go
Yeah, but who in the hell am I talking to
If no one here but me?"
So he cocked both his pistols, spit in the dirt
And walked out to that street
Written by: Steve Earle
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