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'Twas in St Louis City where I first saw the light,
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brought up by honest parents in the pathway of right.
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I was left on orphan at the age of ten years,
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on mother's grave I've shed many tears.
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I'd scarcely reached manhood when I left my old home,
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with some other fellows to the west we did roam.
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Seeking employment though scarcely could find,
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we seemed so poor and the people unkind.
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Was in New York City where we first met our fate,
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we were arrested while roaming the streets.
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The charges were burglars, the theft it was small,
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but they said it would place us behind the stone walls.
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We were marched next morning to the courthouse for trial,
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my pal was downhearted, so I gave him a smile.
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We pleaded for mercy, but was shown none at all,
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they gave us twenty years behind the stone walls.
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We were handcuffed next morning and marched to the pen,
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we arrived there at midnight with a few other men.
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The doors were thrown open, we marched in the halls,
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and learned to be a convict behind the stone walls.
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While lying that night on a pallet of straw,
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I swore I would never again break the law.
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There's none but your mother to bear your downfall,
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when you are a convict behind the stone walls.
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Come all you young fellows and listen to me,
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when you loose life's pleasures, you've lost liberty.
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I've tasted life's pleasures, it's bitterer than gall,
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it'll lead to a cell behind the stone walls.