text: Well, they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late that month
  Ralph went out looking for a job but he couldnt find none
  He came home too drunk from mixing Tanqueray and wine
  Got a gun, shot a night clerk, now they call him Johnny 99
  Down in the part of town where when you hit a red light you dont stop
  Johnnys waving his gun around, threatening to blow his top
  Til an off-duty cop snuck up on him from behind
  Out front of the club Tip Top, they slapped the cuffs on Johnny 99
  Well, the city supplied a public defender, but the judge was mean John Brown
  He came into the courtroom and stared young Johnny down
  Well, the evidence is clear gonna let the sentence, son, fit the crime
  Prison for 98 and a year and call it even, Johnny 99
  A fist fight broke out in the courtroom, they had to drag Johnnys girl away
  His mama stood up and shouted, Judge, dont take my boy this way
  Well, son, you got any statement youd like to make
  Fore the bailiff comes to forever take you away
  Judge, judge, I had debts no honest man could pay
  The bank was holding my mortgage and were gonna take my house away
  Well, I aint saying that makes me an innocent man
  But it was more than all this that put that gun in my hand
  Well, your honor, I do believe Id be better off dead
  And if you can take a mans life for the thoughts thats in his head
  Well, sit back in that chair and think it over, judge, one more time
  Gonna shave off my hair and put me on that execution line