Song Description

Based on the book ?To Have and To Have Not? by Ernest Hemingway, which he wrote when he lived in Key West.

Lyrics

The Ballad of Harry Morgan

I?m gonna run that rum gonna run those men cause I aint going on relief
My name is Harry Morgan and my little girls gotta eat

My boat?s docked in Havana man I?m feeling beat
I lost my pay and tackle to some no good lying cheat
Met a guy in a café said he?s got a job for me
Now I?m gonna take it so I can feed my family

It?s 90 miles to Key West got a shotgun by my side
There?s a rummy on board to help me he?s barely alive
You get a hundred bucks a head to put ?em on dry land
I?ll dodge the law cause starving is more then I can stand

Chorus

Now I?m bringing in a load of liquor I can see that Conch hotel
But I?ve got a funny feeling that this plan?s gone to hell
Just a little bootleggin? I didn?t mean no harm
But in the fight that followed I lost my right arm

Now I?ve got a couple of outlaws put a gun up to my head
They said get this boat a moving or we?ll pump you full of lead
So I ducked down below grabbed my shotgun off the floor
With my good arm I came blazing out that cabin door

Chorus

Now I lay in a big red puddle bleeding myself dry
I look up at the stars knowing I will die
The odds were stacked against me but I didn?t accept defeat
I laid them outlaws down I fed ?em to the sea

Leave behind my wife and three girls I pray that they?ll get by
I know they miss their daddy cause I can hear them cry
Well you can?t pick circumstances you?ve gotta take ?em as they come
You get cut by the sword you gotta fight back with a gun

Chorus
So I ran that rum and I ran those men even though I ended up dead
I don?t regret nuthin? cause I kept my little girls fed