Copper

If you were looking for a way to make me mad

It was a sure fire way you found, acting like a half wit fool

Laying your money around, well, I came back here to tell you Lou

'Bout what you almost did

Don't you ever put the cash on the counter Lou

When I'm with my kid, yeah, the kid's thirteen he's growing Lou

Two years and he'll be bigger than me, still he thinks I'm strong

As a blacksmith and straighter than the tall oak tree

I raised him alone ten years now since his mama ran away

And you ain't gonna blow his image of me

For the stunt like you pulled today

They took the copper right out of the penny, Lou

They got the pig locked up in the pen

But you're in big trouble with me, yes you

If you ever do that again

Ten bucks a week protection don't mean I can't knock you down

You've got to treat me like a living saint Lou whenever my son's around

Yeah, the kid wants to be a policeman just like me

You know he'll be a good one the way I started out to be

And he just might end up police chief

Now wouldn't that be something to see? 'Cause then the kid

Would kick right off of the force all the two-bit grafters like me

They took the copper right out of the penny, Lou

They got the pig locked up in the pen

But you're in big trouble with me, yes you

If you ever do that again

I guess it was when my old lady left me

And she took off with a salesman guy, I started to see things

So differently, cut your own slice out of the pie, yeah I grew up

And it came clear to me all the smart cops on the make

You get a silver badge not an old tin star

When you're on the take, it's pimps and whores, punk gang wars

Robberies and homicides, when you walk the beat with the creeps

On the street, well there ain't no way to hide

I spent half my life without no wife ridin' herd

On the scum of the earth, I learned the tricks of the trade from

The gutter parade and then I prayed for all I'm worth, don't you know

I appreciate the money Lou? 'Cause it all goes into the bank

And when I send my kid to college someday, I'll have guys

Like you to thank, yeah, ten bucks a week on your grocery store

Means you don't have to worry 'bout crime but hold our money

When the kid's with me you can pay me double next time

They took the copper right out of the penny, Lou

They got the pig locked up in the pen

But you're in big trouble with me, yes you

If you ever do that again

Ten bucks a week protection don't mean I can't knock you down

You've got to treat me like a living saint Lou, whenever my son's around