Acting like a half wit fool, laying your money around
 Well I came back here to tell you Lou, 'bout what you almost did
 Don't you ever put the cash on the counter Lou, when I'm with my kid
 Yeah the kid's thirteen he's growing Lou, two years and he'll be bigger than me
 Still he thinks I'm strong as a blacksmith and straighter than the tall oak tree
 I raised him alone ten years now since his Mama ran away
 And you ain't gonna blow his image of me for the stunt like you pulled today

 Chorus:
 They took the copper right out of the penny Lou
 They got the pig locked up in the pen
 But you're in big trouble with me, yes you
 If you ever do that again
 Ten bucks a week protection don't mean I can't knock you down
 You've got to treat me like a living saint Lou, whenever my son's around

 Yeah the kid wants to be a policeman just like me
 You know he'll be a good one the way I started out to be
 And he just might end up police chief, now wouldn't that be something to see?
 'Cause then the kid would kick right off of the force all the two-bit grifters
 like me

 Chorus

 I guess it was when my old lady left me and she took off with a salesman guy
 I started to see things so differently, cut your own slice out of the pie
 Yeah I grew up and it came clear to me all the smart cops on the make
 You get a silver badge not an old tin star when you're on the take
 It's pimps and whores, punk gang wars, robberies and homicides
 When you walk the beat with the creeps on the street, well there ain't no way to
 hide
 I spent half my life without no wife ridin' herd on the scum of the earth
 I learned the tricks of the trade from the gutter parade and then I prayed for
 all I'm worth
 Don't you know I appreciate the money Lou, 'cause it all goes into the bank
 And when I send my kid to college someday I'll have guys like you to thank
 Yeah ten bucks a week on your grocery store means you don't have to worry 'bout
 crime
 But hold your money when the kid's with me you can pay me double next time

 Chorus

 Ten bucks a week protection don't mean I can't knock you down
 You've got to treat me like a living saint Lou, whenever my son's around