Songtext Tom ames' prayer Steve Earle

Tom ames' prayer

Everyone in nacadoches knew tom ames would come to some bad end
Well the sheriff had cought him stealin chickens and such
By the time that he was ten

And one day his daddy took a ten dollar bill
And he tucked it in his hand
He said I can tell youre headed for trouble son
And your momma wouldnt understand

So he took that money and his brothers old bay
And he left without a word of thanks
Fell in with a crowd in some border town
And took to robbin banks

Outside the law your luck will run out fast
And a few years came and went
till hes trapped in an alley in abilene
With all but four shells spent

And he realized prayin was the only thing
That he hadnt ever tried
Well he wasnt sure he knew quite how
But he looked up to the sky

Said you dont owe me nothin and as far as I know
Lord dont owe nothin to you
And I aint askin for a miracle lord
Just a little bit of luck will do

And you know I aint never prayed before
But it always seemed to me
If prayin is the same as beggin lord
I dont take no charity

Yeah but right now lord with my back to the wall
Cant help but recall
How they nearly hung me for stealin a horse
In fort smith arkansas

Judge parker said guilty and the gavel came down
Just like a cannon shot
And I went away quietly
And I began to file and plot

Well they sent the preacher down to my cell
He said the lord is your only hope
Hes the only friend that you gonna have
When you hit the end of parkers rope

Well I guess he coulda kept on preachin till christmas
But he turned his back on me
I put a home made blade to that golden throat
And asked the deputy for the key

Well it aint the first close call I ever had
Im sure you already know
I had some help from you lord and the devil himself
Its been strictly touch and go

Yeah but who in the hell am I talkin to
There aint no one here but me
Then he cocked both his pistols and he spit in the dirt
And he walked out in the street