Song | Respectable |
Artist | Don McLean |
Album | Tapestry |
Ah, it ain't so easy is it? You almost lost your place. | |
And perhaps you're wondering how you're going to cope with your disgrace. | |
Well your wealth is well established and your friends were never few, | |
And all the things they told you of you're finding to be true. | |
Well if truth can free the guilty while the innocent must die, | |
Then I respect, respect, respect the coldest lie. | |
And you talk of human justice while you drive on fancy wheels. | |
And you push them to their limit just to see how nice it feels. | |
Well it doesn't really matter if she's living or she's dead, | |
You just drive away forgetting that your bumper's dipped in red. | |
Well if that's the kind of justice that our hall of justice claims, | |
Then I respect, respect, respect old Jesse James. | |
And most cordially they caught you and they asked you to obey. | |
And they threw you into prison, just in case you could not pay. | |
Well King Arthur jousted Lancelot, who stole away his wife; | |
And your lawyers jousted with the court to save your precious life. | |
Well if living is what matters though you lie with every breath, | |
Then I respect, respect, the ones we put to death. | |
And you won your case most easily and soon you will be free. | |
But there will be a million more who lose their liberty. | |
Not because of what they did, but what they did not do: | |
They did not pay a lawyer or a judge to see them through. | |
Why, they had no friends to call on and they could not raise their bail. | |
Well if winning is what matters, I respect the ones who fail |
Ah, it ain' t so easy is it? You almost lost your place. | |
And perhaps you' re wondering how you' re going to cope with your disgrace. | |
Well your wealth is well established and your friends were never few, | |
And all the things they told you of you' re finding to be true. | |
Well if truth can free the guilty while the innocent must die, | |
Then I respect, respect, respect the coldest lie. | |
And you talk of human justice while you drive on fancy wheels. | |
And you push them to their limit just to see how nice it feels. | |
Well it doesn' t really matter if she' s living or she' s dead, | |
You just drive away forgetting that your bumper' s dipped in red. | |
Well if that' s the kind of justice that our hall of justice claims, | |
Then I respect, respect, respect old Jesse James. | |
And most cordially they caught you and they asked you to obey. | |
And they threw you into prison, just in case you could not pay. | |
Well King Arthur jousted Lancelot, who stole away his wife | |
And your lawyers jousted with the court to save your precious life. | |
Well if living is what matters though you lie with every breath, | |
Then I respect, respect, the ones we put to death. | |
And you won your case most easily and soon you will be free. | |
But there will be a million more who lose their liberty. | |
Not because of what they did, but what they did not do: | |
They did not pay a lawyer or a judge to see them through. | |
Why, they had no friends to call on and they could not raise their bail. | |
Well if winning is what matters, I respect the ones who fail |