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Justice and The Law (A Fable)

from Unravelled Tales - Volume 2 by Sam Steffen

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lyrics

“Someone’s stolen my property!” the store owner did declare
Policeman turned the corner, found me standin there

CHORUS: It don’t matter what you heard, don’t matter what you saw
In the next world you’ll get justice; in this world you get the law

I said I didn’t do it, I said it wasn’t me
He put me into his handcuffs and threw away the key
Took me down to county, held me there all night
Wanted my confession, I said, “I know my rights!”
Chorus

They brought me in a lawyer, must’ve come straight from the bar,
He said, “You don’t have to use me, but if you don’t, you won’t get far,”
he said, “Why don’t you give up? It’s your only move!
the truth is not important if it’s nothin you can prove”
chorus

we went before the judge and he said I’d been accused
of murder in the first degree, I said, “I think you’re confused!”
the judge he asked the lawyer, “How does the defendant plead?”
“Your honor,” he said “Guilty—of murder in the first degree!”
Chorus

They gave me twenty years to life with no chance of parole
Judge said, “May the Lord God have mercy on your soul”
They took me away from my family, took me away from my home
Threw me into the lockdown and left me all alone
chorus

my wife she tried to stand by me, she protested and made waves
she had to quit the fight tho, she had two kids to raise
so I wrote a million letters, and my appeal date finally came
I tried a different strategy, but the outcome was the same
Chorus

the officer who arrested me will be Commissioner any day
my old lawyer’s on the ballot to take the seat of the D.A.
the judge, he ran for office, history turned the page
now he’s livin in a big old mansion with a girlfriend his daughter’s age
chorus

our justice system’s overwrought; it’s just stopped making sense
what good’s the law to anyone if can’t protect innocence?
If I had to describe it in a word or two or less
I’d say the American Incarceral State’s downright Kafkaesque
chorus

Pilate said to Jesus, “If you’re his son, let God save you,”
Jesus said, “Forgive them, father, they don’t know what they do.”
The preacher here in prison he says “the truth will set you free—”
But to hell with his truth, it hasn’t done a thing for me
It don’t matter where it comes, it don’t matter how
The Law’s done nothing for me, I’m after justice now!

credits

from Unravelled Tales - Volume 2, released July 24, 2021

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Sam Steffen Boise, Idaho

Sam Steffen is a Pennsylvania-bred, Boise-based singer-songwriter whose songs are the torch-wood for a new generation of folk music that has learned from the best stuff in the tradition and aims in spite of everything to keep the human spirit alive and kicking. A versatile musician and skilled finger-picker, Sam is at heart a story-teller, and a prolific one. ... more

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