William - Chris Knight

Well I remember William

We weren’t much more than kids

His family lived in a run down shack

Like the rest of the white trash did

Now me and ole William

We used to smoke out behind the barn

Till his daddy caught him stealing cigarettes

I still think he broke William’s arm

When I was drinking my first beer

Ole William was getting high

He got kicked out of school for fighting and drugs

And he stayed out late at night

He never said too much about home

Or the bruises on his back

I asked him about 'em one time

But he never answered back

Yeah William

You grew up hard and mean

You weren’t the apple of your mama’s eye

And your daddy was a burned out fiend

For what it’s worth now William

I know you could’ve had a heart of gold

But I don’t think you ever knew that you had one

I don’t think you were ever told

He spent a year in reform school

'Cause he broke in a hardware store

Now me and William lost track of each other

I never saw him much anymore

The last time I seen William

He was married and had two kids

He tried to raise 'em like he was supposed to

But sometimes he raised 'em like his daddy did

Well just last Sunday morning

Momma called me on the phone

Said there’s a story in the paper about William

She just thought I might like to know

He got shot by a city cop

While he was robbing a local drugstore

He was survived by two hungry kids, a wife

And a pool of blood on the floor