Lyrics

[Intro] Hoo, hoo Hoo, hoo [Verse 1] Well, they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late last month Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none He came home too drunk from mixin' Tanqueray and wine Got a gun, shot a night clerk, now they call him Johnny 99 [Verse 2] Down in the part of town where when you hit a red light, you don't stop Johnny's wavin' his gun around, threatenin' to blow his top When an off-duty cop snuck up on him from behind Out in front of the Club Tip Top, they slapped the cuffs on Johnny 99 [Bridge] Well, the city supplied a public defender But the judge was Mean John Brown He came into the courtroom And stared poor Johnny down "Well, thе evidence is clеar gonna let the sentence, son, fit the crime Prison for ninety-eight and a year and we'll call it even, Johnny 99" (Hoo) [Harmonica Solo] [Bridge] Well, a fistfight broke out in the courtroom They had to drag Johnny's girl away His mama stood up and shouted "Judge, don't take my boy this way" "Well, son, you got any statement you'd like to make Before the bailiff comes to forever take you away?" [Verse 3] "Well now, judge, judge, I had debts no honest man could pay The bank was holdin' my mortgage, they were gonna take my house away Well now, I ain't sayin' that makes me an innocent man But it was more than all this, judge, that put that gun in my hand [Verse 4] "Well, Your Honor, I believe that I'd be better off dead So if you can take a man's life for the thoughts that's in his head Then sit back in that chair and think it over, judge, one more time And let 'em shave off my hair and put me on that execution line" (Yoo)