There's a small jail in georgia you all know, Where the sun's so hot and the daylight don't show. Where the moccasin she rests on a soft bed of sand, You can hear the hound dog howling out the land. Chorus: It ain't the way i wanted it. But lord that's the price you pay. I said jailer bring me water for my throat is dry, Four walls, steel bars, i've been watching pa**ersby, I've been sitting here so long i'm starting to cry, The hangman's coming, i'm surely going to die. Chorus: It ain't the way i wanted it. But lord that's the price you pay. Oh, honk on it, boy, A little jail cell blues here. Lead break I shot a man in macon over a poker game,
I k**ed another in atlanta just to build my fame, Well, now i hear the hammers they're pounding out my name. It ain't the way i wanted it. But that's the price you pay. It ain't the way i wanted it. But lord that's the price you pay. Hey jailer, how about that water my throat's still dry, Four walls, steel bars, i've been watching pa**ersby, I've been sitting here so damn long i'm starting to cry, The hangman's coming i'm surely going to die. It ain't the way i wanted it. But lord that's the price you pay, (repeat), It ain't the way i wanted it, But lord that's the price you pay. Oh, you done out of rope son.