Testo: Harry Chapin. Copper.

If you were looking for a way to make me mad
It was a sure fire way you found, acting like a half wit fool
Laying your money around, well, I came back here to tell you Lou
'Bout what you almost did

Don't you ever put the cash on the counter Lou
When I'm with my kid, yeah, the kid's thirteen he's growing Lou
Two years and he'll be bigger than me, still he thinks I'm strong
As a blacksmith and straighter than the tall oak tree

I raised him alone ten years now since his mama ran away
And you ain't gonna blow his image of me
For the stunt like you pulled today

They took the copper right out of the penny, Lou
They got the pig locked up in the pen
But you're in big trouble with me, yes you
If you ever do that again

Ten bucks a week protection don't mean I can't knock you down
You've got to treat me like a living saint Lou whenever my son's around
Yeah, the kid wants to be a policeman just like me
You know he'll be a good one the way I started out to be

And he just might end up police chief
Now wouldn't that be something to see? 'Cause then the kid
Would kick right off of the force all the two-bit grafters like me

They took the copper right out of the penny, Lou
They got the pig locked up in the pen
But you're in big trouble with me, yes you
If you ever do that again

I guess it was when my old lady left me
And she took off with a salesman guy, I started to see things
So differently, cut your own slice out of the pie, yeah I grew up
And it came clear to me all the smart cops on the make

You get a silver badge not an old tin star
When you're on the take, it's pimps and whores, punk gang wars
Robberies and homicides, when you walk the beat with the creeps
On the street, well there ain't no way to hide

I spent half my life without no wife ridin' herd
On the scum of the earth, I learned the tricks of the trade from
The gutter parade and then I prayed for all I'm worth, don't you know
I appreciate the money Lou? 'Cause it all goes into the bank

And when I send my kid to college someday, I'll have guys
Like you to thank, yeah, ten bucks a week on your grocery store
Means you don't have to worry 'bout crime but hold our money
When the kid's with me you can pay me double next time

They took the copper right out of the penny, Lou
They got the pig locked up in the pen
But you're in big trouble with me, yes you
If you ever do that again

Ten bucks a week protection don't mean I can't knock you down
You've got to treat me like a living saint Lou, whenever my son's around