Oh, let me tell my story friend
That you might learn to stay away from sin
I took a life not mine to take
Imprisoned for this haunting dread mistake

My heart was harder than my soul
They sentenced me to life without parole
Where no one cares, we’re all the same
And I must wear this number for my name

Chorus :
Now life to me is black and white
I’ll wear these stripes until the day I die
But this ball and chain around my leg
Won’t drag me down, won’t drag me down
When I am dead

My mother prayed so hard for me
She did her time down on bended knees
But I was young and I had no fear
Her pleading voice still echoes in my ear

Don’t let the beauty blind your eyes
This world is filled with discolored lies
For greener fields don’t sell your soul
You’ll think you’re rich with a pocket of fool’s gold

Chorus

I’d rather be in this dark cell
Than to be free and die and go to hell
God bless the day of my new birth
I don’t have to pay the price that I deserve

Chorus

Ending:
And when I’m dead and take my flight
I’ll leave behind this world of black and white