Jimmy Nail – Hands of Time

if I could turn back the hands of time

if I could turn back the clock

I wouldn’t be in the place I’m in

I wouldn’t be in the dock

where’s your friends when you need them most

probably hidin’ under a rock

if I could undo the things I did

if I could turn back the clock

it started out like any other day

lazin’ around with nothing to do

my mind started wondering onto criminal things

and how to make a dollar or two

I called the guys on my telling phone

and told them of my little scheme

we drank some beer, we ate some pills,

I shared with them my dream

I can’t recall exactly how

I got to where I shouldn’t have been

]my head seemed filled with hombre stuff

I fealt like I was on the screen

I drank more beer, I ate more pills

gained myself a spinning head

I raised a gun, I killed a man

I’m told it was for something he said

it’s been a year since I said a prayer

but God Almighty, if your listening up there

if I could turn back the hands of time

if I could turn back the clock

I wouldn’t be in this cell right now

I wouldn’t be in the dock

where’s your friends when you need them most

probably hidin’ under a rock

if I could undo the things I did

if I could turn back the clock

misters life and death drone on

in their salutary tones

while I stand in that wooden dock

all sober and alone

the papers say it’s such a crime

what’s been dished to me

and people who I do not know

are banging on for clemency

now I have the best of cells

with ladies on my walls

when I’m moved they holler “dead man walking”

the words echo around the halls

I ponder on where my soul is bound

as I stare up at the moon

above the clouds, beneath the ground

I’m gonna find out real soon

strap me in to the killing chair

give me the volts, straighten out my hair

it’s been a year since I said a prayer

but God Almighty, if your listening up there

if I could turn back the hands of time

if I could turn back the clock

I wouldn’t be in this place right now

I wouldn’t be in the dock

where’s your friends when you need them most

probably hidin’ under a rock

if I could undo all the things I did

if I could turn back the clock