Susan Indest, Dusty Hughes - Life Means Life Lyrics

I've been here nearly 20 years, I'm only 39
In Louisiana Life means life so I'll be here 'til I die
I'm not asking for sympathy, just a bit of time
So maybe you'll remember me and I won't disappear from mind

I killed a man, I was high on meth, he was my friend
I don't know how it happened but I can't be forgiven for that sin
Nothing I can do to make it right, no way to make amends
I don't deserve to live, every day I die inside again

I'm tired of living but I'm afraid to die
The hell here may be better than what's on the other side
I'm so tired of living, in this place days drag by
But Life means life in this prison, I'll be here 'til I die

Heat and humidity weigh me down, crush me like my fate
Have to move real slow to make it through each day
I get 2 cents an hour to push a grass mower by hand
At night I share a dorm with 63 men, one ceiling fan

Sometimes I stay awake all night, haunted by the man I killed
Stench from toilets feet from my bed hang heavy, makes me ill
I tape a thick book to my chest to protect me from a shiv
I know Life means life but boy, this ain't no way to live

I'm tired of living but I'm afraid to die
The hell here may be better than what's on the other side
I'm so tired of living, in this place days drag by
But Life means life in this prison, I'll be here 'til I die

Mama used to visit and call but it was so damn hard
An all-day trip from New Orleans, more than three bucks for a short call
She tried hard to hide it but it's clear I broke her heart
As if I took a mower blade, cut her down like grass in Main Yard

I'll still be here when I die, like others with no family
I've mowed grass where they'll bury me, a field under a big oak tree
There men in cardboard coffins keep eternal company
Their bodies fertilize the ground, grass grows up thick and green

I'm tired of living but I'm afraid to die
The hell here may be better than what's on the other side
I'm so tired of living, in this place days drag by
But Life means life in this prison, I'll be here 'til I die