My name is Joe Roberts I work for the state
I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville barracks number e ight
I always done an honest job as h onest as I c ould
I got a brother named F rankie and Frankie ain't no g ood
N ow ever since we was young kids it's b een the same come d own
I get a call on the shortwave Frankie's in trouble d owntown
Well if i t was any other man I'd p ut him straight aw ay
But when it's your bro ther sometimes you look the other w ay
Y eah me and Frankie laughin' and d rinkin'
Nothin' f eels better than blood on b lood
T akin' turns dancin' with M aria as the band
Played "Night of the Johnstown F lood"
I catch him when he's strayin' l ike any brother w ould
Man turns his ba ck on his famil y well he just ain't no good
Well Frankie went in the army back in 1965
I got a farm deferment settled down took Maria for my wife
But them wheat prices kept on droppin'
till it was like we were gettin' robbed
Frankie came home in 68 and me I took this job
Yeah we're laughin' and drinkin'
Nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria
as the band Played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin'
teach him how to walk that line
Man turns his back on his family he ain't no friend of mine
Well the 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 kid lyin' on the floor lookin' bad bleedin' hard from his head
There was a girl cry'n' at a table and it was Frank they said
Well I went out and I jumped in my car and I hit the lights
Well I musta done one hundred and ten through Michigan county that night
It was out at the crossroads down round Willow bank
Seen a Buick with Ohio plates. Behind the wheel was Frank
Well I chased him through them county roads
Till a sign said "Canadian border five miles from here"
I pulled over the side of the highway and watched his tail-lights disappear
