Well they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late last month
Ralph went out looking for a job but, Lord, he couldn't find none
He came home too drunk from mixing Tanqueray and wine
He got a gun and shot a night clerk, now they call him Johnny 99

Down in the part of town when you hit a red light and don't stop
Johnny's waving his gun and threatening to blow his top
When an off-duty cop snuck up on him from behind
Out in front of the club Tip Top, they slapped the cuffs on Johnny 99

The city supplied a public defender, but the judge was mean John Brown
When he came into the courtroom and he stared young Johnny down
Well, the evidence is clear, gonna let the sentence fit the crime
Prison for 98 and a year, we'll call it even, Johnny 99

Well, a fist fight broke out in the courtroom, they had to drag Johnny's girl away
His mama stood up and shouted, "Judge, don't take my boy this way"
Well, son, you got a statement that you'd like to make
Before the bailiff comes to forever take you away?

Now judge, oh judge, I got debts no honest man can pay
The bank was holding my mortgage, they was taking my house away
Now, I ain't saying that make me no innocent man
God knows it was more than all this that put that gun in my hand

Well, Your Honor, I do believe I'd be better off dead
And if you can take a man's life for the thoughts running through his head
Then won't you sit back in that chair and think it over, judge, one more time
And let them shave off my hair and put me on the execution line