James Downes - Ransom Full of Gin Lyrics

I left Sunday mornings with a ransom full of gin
I drank so much to choke my faith that now I'm dry again
I flipped a dozen coins to see what tails might do
But fate turned heads up every time so what's a boy to do

I walked the stones of Scholars went to school for all my sins
I pushed a paper trail but business gave me spins
I courted foreign lands they said t'would make my name
But I got lost in foreign tongues so who's a boy to blame

The hangman's almost had it, the court of sorrow sighs
The swordsman shield their mothers from the sadness in their eyes
The Mayor, he ran for office on a ticket wet with tear
When I took up with Vagabonds, Rum beggars and their gear

Last night I turned the corner where years I'd often go
I saw the sheets pulled o'er the head of a boy I used to know
I said a prayer to Jesus I cursed the stairs to Christ
And I walked on up that dead end street where that boy just lost his life