Ry Cooder: Red Cat Till I Die

Well I'm a Red Cat till I die, I'm a Red Cat through and through
Now you can't turn me yellow and you can't make me blue
You can't make me do things I know it's wrong to do
I'm a Red Cat till I die, I'm telling you

Well a bunch of sneakin' deputies they came a-snooping round
Then they grabbed me in the alley whilst I was laying down
And then they threw me in the wagon and then they ran me in
Then they locked me in the jailhouse with all my hobo friends

Saying, Where's that rat named Lefty?
And where's that frog named Tom?
Been agitating lately
And spreading great alarm
Now the cows walked out this morning
And now the hens won't lay
Said, You're going to wreck our country
And it ain't the American Way

I ain't no strikebreaker and I ain't no stoolie rat
Won't squeal on Tom and Lefty, I won't say where they're at
You can't scare me, copper, and I don't care what you do
I'm a Red Cat till I die, I'm telling you

Now you think you're hard-boiled, you're just yellow inside
My daddy always warned me, now I know he's right
You're just cowards hidin' behind a little tin star
And the people are starting to realize what a bunch of clowns you are

Well I might have been a banker without the least excuse
Now I might have been the President, but tell me what's the use
Might have been an FBI man but I ain't no Peepin' Tom
Then I might have been a deputy and put my white sheet on

But I'm a Red Cat till I die, I'm a Red Cat through and through
I won't fight your rich man's war and kill poor folks for you
Now you can't make me do things that I know it's wrong to do
I'm a Red Cat till I die, I'm telling you