Song Description
An interpretation of some events in the life of real-life bank robber and writer Stephen Reid
| Song Length |
2:52 |
Genre |
Folk - Alternative, Folk - Cajun |
| Tempo |
Slow (71 - 90) |
Lead Vocal |
Duet Male |
| Mood |
Serene, Poignant |
Subject |
Crime, Theft, Healing |
| Language |
English |
Era |
2000 and later |
Lyrics
The Ballad of Stephen Reid
Ian North, 2006
On a Thursday morning we made our guilty plan
Everyone a mask and gun, someone to steal the van
There's a bank on Granville where the payroll gets paid
The getaway would be a breeze and that was where mistakes were made
I am the guilty man and the jury did agree
And I have no argument with the sentence passed on me
Maybe you've got a clever wife, maybe you've got a handsome kid
But don't be fooled and think that they are payment for something good you did
It'll feel more like they're stolen from some place they have downtown
Where the citizens and straights keep the good life locked down
There must be something in me that wants the truth out in the light
Because I am a guilty man who only wants to sleep at night
Once upon a time I wrote the story of my life
And won the praise of famous men and won myself a wife
But everything is timing, that's the god of my belief
Up there in that vault of blue and every one of us a thief