Highway Patrolman lyrics

My name is Joe Roberts, I work for the state

I'm a sergeant out on Perenville barracks number 8

I've always done an honest job, honest as I could

Got a brother named Frankie, Frankie ain't no good

Ever since we were young kids, it's been the same come down

I'd get a call on the short wave, Frankie's in trouble downtown

Well, if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away

But sometimes when it's your brother, you look the other way

Yeah, me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin',

Nothin' feels better than blood on blood

Takin' turns dancin' with Maria

While the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood"

I catch him when he's strayin', like any brother should

Man turns his back on his family, he ain't no good

Well, Frankie went into the army back in 1965

I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wife

But them wheat prices kept on droppin'

'til it was like we's gettin' robbed

Frankie came home in '68, and me, I took this job

Yeah, me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin',

Nothin' feels better than blood on blood

Takin' turns dancin' with Maria

While the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood"

I catch him when he's strayin', teach him how to walk that line

Man turns his back on his family ain't no friend of mine

The night was like any other, I got a call 'bout a quarter to nine

There was trouble at a roadhouse out on the Michigan line

There was a kid on the floor, lookin' bad,

Bleedin' hard from his head

There was a girl cryin' at a table, it was Frankie, she said

I ran out and I jumped in my car, then I hit the lights

I must have done about a hundred and ten

To Michigan County that night

It was down by the crossroads, out by willow bank

Seen the Buick with Ohio plates, behind the wheel was Frank

Well, I chased him through them county roads,

'til the sign said Canadian border five miles from here

Pulled over to the side out the highway, watched the taillights disappear

Yeah, me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin',

Nothin' feels better than blood on blood

Takin' turns dancin' with Maria

While the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood"

I catch him when he's strayin', like any brother should

Man turns his back on his family, he ain't no good

• Artist:Johnny Cash
• Album:Johnny 99 (1983)