[ti:The Hitter] [ar:Tom Jones] [al:24 Hours] [00:01.12]Tom Jones - The Hitter [00:03.06] [00:09.28]Come to the door Ma, and unlock the chain [00:17.63]I was just passin’ through and got caught in the rain [00:26.40]There’s nothing I want, nothin’ that you need say [00:34.46]Just let me lie down for a while and I’ll be on my way¡ [00:41.06] [00:43.41]I was no more than a kid when you put me on the Southern Queen [00:52.17]With the police on my back I fled to New Orleans [01:01.63]I fought in the dockyards and with the money I made [01:09.44]I knew the fight was my home and blood was my trade [01:15.78] [01:18.28]Baton Rouge, Poncitoula, and Lafayette town [01:25.77]Well they paid me their money Ma I knocked the men down [01:35.79]I did what I did well it come easily [01:44.92]Restraint and mercy Ma were always strangers to me [01:51.80] [01:52.84]I fought champion Jack Thompson in a field full of mud [02:00.68]Rain poured through the tent to the canvas and mixed with our blood [02:10.40]In the twelfth I slipped my tongue over my broken jaw [02:17.67]I stood over him and pounded his bloody body into the floor [02:27.75]Well the bell rang and rang and still I kept on [02:37.03]‘Till I felt my glove leather slip ‘tween his skin and bone [02:44.07] [02:45.06]Then the women and the money came fast and the days I lost track [02:53.62]The women red, the money green, but the numbers were black [03:02.64]I fought for the men in their silk suits to lay down their bets [03:11.21]I took my good share Ma, I have no regrets [03:17.92] [03:19.00]Then I took the fix at the state armory with big John McDowell [03:28.62]From high in the rafters I watched myself fall [03:36.60]As he raised his arm my stomach twisted and the sky it went black [03:45.50]I stuffed my bag with their good money and I never looked back [03:52.22] [03:54.27]Understand, in the end Ma every man plays the game [04:03.12]If you know me one different then speak out his name [04:11.59]Ma if my voice now you don’t recognize [04:20.37]Then just open the door and look into your dark eyes [04:29.34]I ask of you nothin’, not a kiss not a smile, [04:37.92]Just open the door and let me lie down for a while [04:44.91] [04:46.43]Now the gray rain’s fallin’ and my ring fightin’s done [04:54.85]So in the work fields and alleys I take all who’ll come [05:03.63]If you’re a better man than me then just step to the line [05:09.80]Now there’s nothin’ I want Ma nothin’ that you need say [05:29.34]Just let me lie down for a while and I’ll be on my way [05:36.91] [05:38.73]Tonight in the shipyard a man draws a circle in the dirt [05:47.35]I move to the center and I take off my shirt [05:55.86]I study him for the cuts, the scars, the pain, [06:00.97]Man, nor the time can erase [06:04.62]I move hard to the left and I strike to the face [06:15.88]