Chord Highway Patrolman by Johnny Cash

D G D my name is joe roberts i work for the state A i’m a sergeant out of perrineville barracks number eight D G D i always done an honest job as honest as i could A D i got a brother named frankie and frankie ain’t no good D G D now ever since we was young kids it’s been the same come down A i get a call on the shortwave frankie’s in trouble downtown D G D well if it was any other man , i’d put him straight away A D but when it’s your brother sometimes you look the other way G D yeah me and frankie laughin’ and drinkin’ G D nothin’ feels better than blood on blood G D takin’ turns dancin’ with maria as the band A played "night of the johnstown flood" D G D i catch him when he’s strayin’ like any brother would A or A7 D man turns his back on his family 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