Too Much Time for the Crime I've Done

DESCRIPTION: "I got too much time, buddy... for the crime I done.... If I had just a-knowed it, could a broke and run." The singer thinks he should have gotten two or three years, but got ten or more. He wishes he had a gun, and thinks about what to do if free
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (recorded from J. B. Smith by Jackson)
KEYWORDS: prison hardtimes violence
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Jackson-WakeUpDeadMan, pp. 151-154,"Too Much TIme for the Crime I've Done" (2 texts, both from the same informant; 1 tune)
NOTES [65 words]: This song, and several others by J. B. Smith, brilliantly illustrates the problem of classifying Black prison songs. This is clearly a personal song by Smith, who was serving a life term for killing his girlfriend, but the themes and many of the words come from other songs. Given the extent of Smith's rewriting, I classified it separately, but there is no good way to file such things. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: JDM151

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