From dusk to dawn I raise this hammer to hit the railroad spike
On the ground, when he heard I was serving life doing hard time
Daddy had a heart attack, and looking around in this crowded place
I know to home I won't soon be going back
I hear somebody say, son forget about your woman , she'll write saying
She tried to be true but found somebody else
Hear the sound of the hammer talking now to me
I know to the other prisoners a man can never show any fear
But looking at these high stone walls, I'll probably die up in here
Nights I stay up not able to sleep, holding steel bars in both hands
And slowly start to weep, listen to the sound of the hammer
Locked up here there is no hidden glamour
This is a place where dreams go up in smoke
No laughing here, grimness is no joke
I remember so well when the world fell in on me,
Mama forgive me for all the wrongs I've done
I know that there's no coming to my rescue
Said goodbye and held you at the prison gate
Turned away from right, now it's to late
Hear the sound of the hammer, beating the steel spike down
And the dead sound of steel slowly going into the ground