Solomon Jones

[Aceyalone]

A bunch of wild boys was hangin around at the local neighborhood saloon

And some cat kept droppin quarters down in the jukebox playin all the favorite tunes

And back by the bar playin cards lookin hard was big bad Solomon Jones

And watchin over his luck was the love of his life his lady that was known as Simone

Went out of the night which was dark and cold into the smoke-filled dimly lit room

Stumbled into thug who-a smelled like bud and his eyes looked high as the moon

He looked like a man with his foot in the grave and his lifetime 'bout to be out

Yet he slapped down some hundred dollar bills on the bar

And he yelled out "Drinks on the house"

Now nobody could place where this dude was from but we knew that he was far from home

But we drank to his health and the last to drink, was big bad Solomon Jones

Now there's some G's who just run the streets, and they live life in and out of jail

And such was he, that kind of O.G., that looked like he been through hell

With his hair in cornrows, a mean mug grill, like a dog whose day is done

He lit up the green stuff in his cigar, and he took hits one by one

Now I got to thinkin who this cat could be, and what the hell is goin on

Yeller turned around and who was starin at him, the lady that was known as Simone

In the white t-shirt all stained with dirt, he was tryin not to be rude

But he was tryin to find another good song on the jukebox so he could just set the mood

Have you ever been out in the city streets, where the game they play is so clear

Where the police and gangsters control the block, and gunshots is all that you hear?

When the only sound are the drums of war, and you left out in the cold

A half-dead man in a half-dead world, on a yellow brick road to gold

Then all of a sudden the music changed, and everyone just held their pulse

But it felt like your life had been robbed from you, and everything that you held close

That someone had stolen the woman you loved, and that her love was a devil's lie

That your heart was gone, and the best thing that you could do was crawl away and die

It's the painful cry of a man's despair, deep down in his bones

I guess misery enjoys company, said big bad Solomon Jones

Then the stranger turned, and his eyes had burned in a most peculiar way

And the white t-shirt that was stained in dirt, he sat down to watch it sway

Then his mouth had frowned up in this kind of grin, and he spoke in a voice so clear

"Boy you don't know who I am, and I know that you just don't care

Now I'mma say these words cause these words are true and when I'm done here I'll be gone

But one of you boys is a sheisty dog and his name is Solomon Jones"

Then I ducked my head and the lights went out, and two guns blazed in the dark

Then a woman screamed, and the lights came on, and the two men laid stiff as starch

With a bullet in his head and pumped full of lead was big bad Solomon Jones

While the thug from the street who was holdin his heat

And holdin on to that lady named Simone