deep in the swampland, louisiana, under the gun where i fall.
doing hard time in the penitentiary... prisons are built with stones of law.

don’t keep me locked down behind this steel where i hide
i want to play the blues i feel on the outside.
i see my freedom, and i see the way.

when i pulled my knife, tried to take his life,
don’t you know i was three sheets to the wind...
so i pulled my knife, tried to take his life.
now i play the blues to reconcile my sin.

i said, waiting for you to set me free.
i said, wait, wait, waiting for a life of liberty.

don’t keep me locked down. strip off these shackles of mine.
my voice is raging for mercy, “lessen my time!”
i see my freedom, and my sins, they seem so far away.

don’t try to save my soul. put me on parole.
behind these four walls, don’t you leave me be.
don’t try to save my soul. put me on parole.
when i wake up, i want to be free.

i said, waiting for you to set me free.
i said, wait, wait, waiting for a life of liberty.
‘cause i want to see the world from outside.

deep in the swampland, louisiana, under the gun where i fall.
please, please governor, set leadbelly free... prisons are built with stones of law.

don’t keep me locked down. wake up to a cold cell so dim,
my fingers bloody and torn from the labour within.
i see my freedom, and my sins, they seem so far away.

tried to walk that way. tried to walk that way.
i got arrested, convicted, and confined.
tried to walk that way. tried to walk that way.
don’t you know i fell off that narrow line...

i said, waiting for you to set me free.
i said, wait, wait. freedom! freedom! freedom! freedom!!
‘cause i want to see the world from outside.