Jail Machine

Written December 2006

Tab C, capo 7

hey, hey, welcome to the jail machine,
there is money to be made in this lock-up game,
everyone’s a winner when the streets are clean,
if the system gets you, you’ve just got yourself to blame
+++ let me tell you, mister, it’s a field of dreams
+++ if we build’em, we can fill’em till they burst their seams..
& life is so much better when the streets are clean,
welcome to the jail machine…

every desperate junkie out there forging checks
gets the same 3 strikes the killer or the rapist gets,
I’m just happy I don’t have to use that stuff,
when my doctor hooked me up my lawyer got me off,
+++ & if the state’s a baby, I’m a candy thief,
+++ buildin’ cheap hotels is easy when the guests can’t leave..
& I’m gettin’ paid to do it like you won’t believe,
welcome to the jail, welcome to the jail machine..
+++++ mandatory sentencing creates a need,
+++++ we add a touch of human greed,
+++++ and now you’ve got a business plan
+++++ that college might be cheaper than,
+++++ but people get what they deserve,
+++++ the over and the under-served,
both rich and poor get exactly what they pay for..

smokin’ there in bed after the money’s spent
lay a lobbyist, a business- and a congressman,
“that was good for me, boys, was it good for you?
let’s build another prison sometime very soon,”
+++ let me tell you, brother, it’s a brilliant scheme
+++ first we build’em, then we fill’em till they burst their seams
and everyone’s a winner when the streets are clean,
+++ (welcome to the jail, welcome to the jail..)
lock up all the sinners who don’t look like me,
+++ (welcome to the jail, welcome to the jail..)
I feel so much braver knowing you’re less free,
+++ welcome to the jail, welcome to the jail,
+++ welcome to the jail machine…

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