Smugglers' Blues

There's trouble on the street tonight, I can feel it in mybones

I had a premonition that he should not go alone

I knew the gun was loaded, but I didn't think he'd kill

Everything exploded, and the blood began to spill

So baby, here's your ticket, and the suitcase in your hand

Here's a little money, now we'll do it just the way we planned

You be cool for twenty hours, and I'll pay you twenty grand

I'm sorry it went down like this, but someone had to lose

It's the nature of the business, it's the smugglers' blues

The sailors and the pilots, the soldiers and the law

The payoffs and the ripoffs and the things nobody saw

Don't matter if it's heroin, cocaine or hash,

You've got to carry weapons 'cause you always carry cash

There's lots of shady characters and lots of dirty deals

Every name's an alias in case somebody squeals

It's the lure of easy money, it's got a very strong appeal

Perhaps you'd understand it better standing in my shoes

It's the ultimate enticement, it's the smugglers' blues

You see it in the headlines, you hear it every day

They say they're gonna stop it, but it doesn't go away

They move it through Miami and sell it in LA

They hide it up in Telluride, I mean it's here to stay

It's propping up the governments in Columbia and Peru

You ask any D.A., man, they'll say there's nothing we can do

From the office of the president right down to me and you

Me and you

It's a losing proposition, but one you can't refuse

It's the politics of contraband, it's the smugglers' blues