As if going to jail wouldn't make you feel bad enough, consider how much worse you would feel if you were to go to jail for a long time.

This song is available on:


More related:

Though much has changed in today's prison system where convicts are allotted time outside, reasonable meals, conjugal visits and television, at the time this song was written, incarceration often meant no contact with the outside world in addition to the hard labor of a chain gang.

Thus, the singer laments not receiving mail with news from home and the likely passing of his mother. All the while maintaining the hope that his sweatheart will be waiting for his release.