Alternate Title: 
Death Penalty Song

Reference

About the Song

Inspired by the words of Sr. Helen Prejean (https://www.sisterhelen.org/)

_Ever say a stupid thing, wrong place, wrong crowd, wrong day?
_Ever long to take it back, make it go away?
Now dig a little deeper, beneath the scab of shame
Something you pray you’d never done, something you dare not name

(up 2) GC G CD G / Em C F D / GC G CD G /   /

_Imagine being stuck right there, for all of time and tide
And all the good you did or could forgotten and denied
By some strand you can’t untangle from the winding web you’ve spun
To only be remembered for the worst you’ve ever done

C G CD G / C G CG D / 1st / B7 Em CD G

_Maybe you betrayed a friend, perhaps you hurt a child
Or won some heart and broke it,  just to watch that heart go wild
You might have done it on a whim, you might have in a rage
You might have done it in a war, or done it for a wage.

(2nd cho) _Imagine being stuck right there for all of time to come
To only be remembered for the worst you’ve ever done

C G CD G / B7 Em CD G

_Well, you outlived the wrong you’ve done, and now you’re living well
But some live by the hour, in a solitary cell
Wait for the needle, wait for the noose, wait for the morning sun
Smoldering embers, only remembered for the worst they’ve ever done

_Who will sit in judgement, and who will stand alone?
Who can know another’s heart, who can cast the stone?
Where is the healing in the vengeance that we crave?
Where are the flowers for a barren, unmarked grave?

(bridge) Out of his mouth a red, red rose - out of his heart a white
For the life he can never live over- for the good he did, or might

D - CD G / A7 - D D7

(final cho)  Imagine being stuck right there for all of time to come
A smoldering ember, only remembered for the worst you’ve ever done
(2x)

C G CD G / EmD CD G /    /

lyrics & music by Charlie King 
© 2001 Charlie King/Pied Asp Music (BMI). Used by permission.