The Hitter (Springsteen Bruce)

Come to the door, Ma, and unlock the chain I was just passin' through and got caught in the rain There's nothin' I want, nothin' that you need say Just let me lie down for a while and then I'll be on my way I was no more than a kid when you put me on the Southern Queen With the police on my back I fled to New Orleans I fought in the dockyards and with the money that I made And the fight was my home and any blood was my trade Baton Rouge, Ponchatoula, and La Fayette town Well they paid me the moon, Ma, to knock the men down I did what I did, when it come easily Restraint and mercy were always strangers to me I fought champion Jack Thompson in a field full of mud Rain poured through the tent to the canvas and mixed with our blood In the twelfth, I slipped my tongue over my broken jaw And I stood over him, pounded his blooded body into the floor Well the bell rang and rang, still I kept on 'Til I felt my glove leather slip 'tween his skin and bone And the women and the money came fast, in the days I lost track The women red, the money green, but the numbers were black I fought for the men in their silk suits to lay down their bets Well I took my good share, Ma, and I had no regret I took the fixed staid hombre with Big Diamond Don* From high in the rafters I watched myself fall So he raised his arms, my stomach twisted, and the sky it went black** I stuffed my bag with their good money, and I never looked back Understand me, and Ma, every man plays a game If you know anyone different, then speak out his name Well Ma, if my voice, now you don't recognize And just open the door and look into your dark eyes I ask of you nothin', not a kiss, not a smile Just open the door and let me lie down for a while Now the grey rain is fallin' and my ring fighting's done So in the work fields and alleys, I take them who'll come If you're a better man than me then just step to the line And show me your money and speak out your crime There's nothin' I want, Ma, nothin' that you need say Just let me lie down for a while and then I'll be on my way Well tonight in the shipyard, a man draws a circle in the dirt Like I always do, I move to the centre and I take off my shirt I study him for the cuts, the scars, the pain man no time can erase I move hard to the left and I strike to the face