Walls of Red Wing

Oh, the age of the inmates I remember quite freely,

No younger than twelve, no older than seventeen,

Thrown in like bandits and cast off like criminals,

All inside the walls on the grounds of Red Wing.

From the dirty, old mess hall you march to the brick wall,

Too weary to talk and too tired to sing,

And it's all afternoon you remember your hometown,

All inside the walls, the walls of Red Wing.

Oh, the gates are cast iron and the walls are barbed wire,

Stay far from the fence with the 'lectricity sting,

And it's keep down your head and stay in your number,

All inside the grounds of the walls of Red Wing.

Oh, it's fare-thee-well to the deep, hollow dungeon,

Farewell to the boardwalk that takes you to the screen,

Farewell to the minutes they threaten you with it,

All inside the grounds of the walls of Red Wing.

It's many a guard that stands around smiling,

Holding his club like he was a king,

Hoping to get you behind a wood piling,

All inside the grounds of the walls of Red Wing.

The night aimed shadows through the crossbar windows

And the wind punched hard to make the wall-siding sing,

It's many a night I pretended to be a-sleeping,

All inside the grounds of the walls of Red Wing.

As the rain rattled heavy on the bunk-house shingles

And the sounds of the night, they made my ears ring

Till the keys of the guards clicked the tune of the morning,

All inside the grounds of the walls of Red Wing.

Oh, some of us will wind up in St. Cloud Prison,

And some of us'll end up to be lawyers and things,

And some of us'll stand to meet you on your crossroads

From inside the grounds of the walls of Red Wing.