"John Wesley Harding"

Drifter's Escape

'Oh, help me in my weakness,

I heard the drifter say,

As they carried him from the courtroom

And qere taking him away.

'My trip hasn't been a pleasant one

And my time insn´t long,

What it was that I've done wrong.'

Well, the judge, he cast is robe aside,

A tear came to his eye,

'You fail to understand,' he said,

'Why must you haven try?'

Outside, the crowd was stirring,

You could hear it from the door.

Inside, the judge was stepping down,

Wile the jury cried for more.

'Oh, stop that cursed jury,'

Cried the attendant and the nurse,

'The trial was bad enough,

But this is ten times worse.'

Just then a bolt of lightning

stuck the courthouse out of shape,

And wile ev'rybody knelt to pray

The drifter did escape.

Bob Dylan, 1968