G                                  D
Well, I'm goin' to a place where the tough guys go
      E               D   C
and come out even tougher.
   G                                 D
A place where a man don't show his feelings,
  E                           D     C
a place where a man don't cry.      
        G
Well, they say I'm bein' punished
      D
and they say I can be reformed
     E                D  C
but some day I'll return.
            G                     D
Did they really think that this time it'd work,
     E                    D  C
you knew all along it wouldn't.

G        D
Oh, I'm prison bound
         E                   D      C
I did a crime one too many times.   
              G                                 D
It's on the outskirts of town by the railroad tracks
              E             D    C
where the country moon shines.   

Oh, I'm prison bound
tell my girl I'll be back one day.
Oh, I'm prison bound
I may never know any other way.

Well, they've taken away my freedom of expression or action
Johnny says I'll walk the line
with three hots and a cot and a lot of talk
with lock-up concrete and steel.
Well, It's cold and It's clammy
man it's colder than a pimp's heart
but I gotta do my time.
There's a lesson to be learned here but what a price to pay
you know, I may never learn