Highway Patrolman Lyrics & Chords By Stephen Simmons

My name is Joe Roberts, I work for the state
I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville barracks number 8
I always done an honest job, as honest as I could
I got a brother named Franky, Franky ain't no good

Ever since we was young kids, it's been the same come down
I get a call on the short-wave, Franky's in trouble downtown
Well, if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away
But sometimes when it's your brother, man, you look the other way

Yeah, we're laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', and I teach him to walk that line
Man turns his back on his family, man, he ain't no friend of mine

Well, Franky went in the army back in '65
I got a farm deferment, settled down and took Maria for my wife
But them wheat prices kept on droppin' 'til it was like we was gettin' robbed
Franky came home in '68, me, I took this job

We're laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', and I teach him to walk that line
Man turns his back on his family, man, he ain't no friend of mine

Well, that night was like any other, I got a call 'bout quarter to nine
There was trouble in a roadhouse out on the Michigan line
There was a boy on the floor, lookin' bad, bleedin' hard from his head
There was a girl cryin' at a table, it was Frank, they said

Well, I went out and I jumped in my car and I hit the lights
I must of done a hundred and ten through Michigan county that night
It was down at the crossroads, down by Willows Bend
Saw a car with Ohio plates, behind the wheel was Frank

Well, I chased him through those county roads
'Til I saw a sign that said Canadian border five miles from here
Pulled over the side of the highway
Watched his taillights disappear

Yeah, we're laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', and I teach him to walk that line
Man turns his back on his family, man, he ain't no friend of mine