It began when two young robbers
Got a bargain for their plea:
If they would only name an accomplice,
They’d get away with "second degree".
And the vengeance for a dead policeman
On someone was bound to fall.
But even their tortured description
Doesn‘t fit this prisoner at all.
"I cannot live without my children," she cried,
"It breaks my heart to see them through the bars."
The system is cracking, cracking in desperation hacking
And the poor, and the black, and the women wear the scars.
Ella Ellison sat in the courtroom
Her innocence always maintained
While the prosecutor called her a cop-killer
And monkey, and many other names
Her accusers bought years of freedom
With evidence so full of holes
And Ellison found guilty of murder
sentenced lor life, with no parole.
Now the two young desperados
may have had their reasons for the plan
And the cop who died at that jewelry store
may have been a brave and loyal man
But it for mercy you would argue
ll with compassion you would care
Then how about some consideration
for a woman who wasn’t even there?
"I cannot live without my children," she cried,
"It breaks my heart to see them through the bars."
The system is cracking, cracking in desperation hacking
And the poor, and the black, and the women wear the scars.
Now this country's s'posed to have ideals for export
And liberty enough to spare
But when l heard about Ella Ellison
For the first time I got really scared
I confess I believed in the protection
of my light hair, my college degree
But now you know I just can't shake the feeling
That they could just as well come after me
And l dream that I deserve it
my innocence forever lost
That of all the little mistakes in my life
This would finally be the cost.
Oh my sisters may know of this disease
Always afraid, always feeling in the wrong
But I'm waking up to see now that the victims
Are just the ones who keep their silence too long!
"I cannot live without my children," she cried,
"It breaks my heart to see them through the bars."
The system is cracking, cracking in desperation hacking
And the poor, and the black, and the women wear the scars.
Got a bargain for their plea:
If they would only name an accomplice,
They’d get away with "second degree".
And the vengeance for a dead policeman
On someone was bound to fall.
But even their tortured description
Doesn‘t fit this prisoner at all.
"I cannot live without my children," she cried,
"It breaks my heart to see them through the bars."
The system is cracking, cracking in desperation hacking
And the poor, and the black, and the women wear the scars.
Ella Ellison sat in the courtroom
Her innocence always maintained
While the prosecutor called her a cop-killer
And monkey, and many other names
Her accusers bought years of freedom
With evidence so full of holes
And Ellison found guilty of murder
sentenced lor life, with no parole.
Now the two young desperados
may have had their reasons for the plan
And the cop who died at that jewelry store
may have been a brave and loyal man
But it for mercy you would argue
ll with compassion you would care
Then how about some consideration
for a woman who wasn’t even there?
"I cannot live without my children," she cried,
"It breaks my heart to see them through the bars."
The system is cracking, cracking in desperation hacking
And the poor, and the black, and the women wear the scars.
Now this country's s'posed to have ideals for export
And liberty enough to spare
But when l heard about Ella Ellison
For the first time I got really scared
I confess I believed in the protection
of my light hair, my college degree
But now you know I just can't shake the feeling
That they could just as well come after me
And l dream that I deserve it
my innocence forever lost
That of all the little mistakes in my life
This would finally be the cost.
Oh my sisters may know of this disease
Always afraid, always feeling in the wrong
But I'm waking up to see now that the victims
Are just the ones who keep their silence too long!
"I cannot live without my children," she cried,
"It breaks my heart to see them through the bars."
The system is cracking, cracking in desperation hacking
And the poor, and the black, and the women wear the scars.
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