Ronald Ryan was the poor bastrard son
Of a drunken miner who died of black lung
That was their depression years, he was born in twenty-five,
Mother turning tricks just to keep the kids alive.

Thats a good start, for a life of crime
He was no gangster, strictly small time
Got a thirteen year stretch, he'd do five for sure,
on Friday the thriteenth, November sixty-four

If there's a hard way to live,
if there's an easy way to die,
if he leadeth me, the quiet waters by,
don't ask me for my tears,
or for whom the bells toll,
he can save my neck,
can he save my soul?

Ronald was a scheemer, rising for a fall
With Peter Walker went over that wall
One county warder lay dead as he fell
Who pulled the trigger? You probably can't tell

Three week after the boys had flown the coop,
Tipped off in Sydney, the cops made their swoop,
In the dock he stood there, sentence was read,
"Guilty of murder, hand until dead."

If there's a hard way to live,
if there's an easy way to die,
if he leadeth me, the quiet waters by,
don't ask me for my tears,
or for whom the bells toll,
he can save my neck,
can he save my soul?

(interlude)

The Judge and jury never thought that he would swing,
But the men in power had votes to win
"Give me law and order!" the cry of the day
Ronald Ryan was the bastard who'd pay

While there's a gathering at the Coleburg Hotel,
Ronald takes communion inside his cell
One nip of wiskey before he goes
candles and protests out on Sydney row

They fit the shackles, then they fit the cap
They hit the lever, you plummet through the trap
The hangman's tables, its all worked out
pray that the rope is strong, and the beam is stout.

If there's a hard way to live,
if there's an easy way to die,
if he leadeth me, the quiet waters by,
don't ask me for my tears,
or for whom the bells toll,
he can save my neck,
can he save my soul?

Ronald Ryan was the poor bastard son
Who squeezed the trigger, and pointed the gun
Someone signed orders, we know these men,
Ronald Ryan's not the only killer then

If there's a hard way to live,
if there's an easy way to die,
if he leadeth me, the quiet waters by,
don't ask me for my tears,
or for whom the bells toll,
he can save my neck,
can he save my soul?

If there's a hard way to live,
if there's an easy way to die,
if he leadeth me, the quiet waters by,
don't ask me for my tears,
or for whom the bells toll,
he can save my neck,
can he save my soul?