Handsome Pete

Leader: Handsome Pete wore silk and a diamond ring!

Group: Swing that hammer, break that stone!

Leader: He had the judges dancing on a golden string!

Group: Swing that hammer, break that stone!

Leader: He drank his gin from a crystal cup!

Group: Lord, it’s a long way down when you’re looking up!

Leader: He never thought the law would catch his scent!

Group: Now he’s paying back every cent he spent!

Leader: Oh, Pete, he was the king of the North Side docks!

Group: Now he’s making little ones out of big-sized rocks!

Leader: He used to order hits with a silver cane!

Group: Now he’s just a link in a rusty chain!

Leader: The warden told Pete, "You’re a pretty sight!"

Group: But your suit’s got stripes and it fits too tight!

Leader: You used to run the rackets and the gambling play!

Group: Now you’re digging ditches in the Georgia clay!

Leader: He looks for his crew in the morning mist!

Group: But there ain’t no shooters on the warden’s list!

Leader: His boys all turned or they’re in the ground!

Group: And there’s no one left to buy his way out of town!

Leader: So swing it high and swing it down low!

Group: Handsome Pete has got nowhere to go!

Leader: The sun’s going down on a broken man!

Group: Working off a life on the installment plan