I Fought the Law. . .

(A') Breakin' rocks in the ... hot sun
I Fought the Law and the ... law won
I Fought the Law and the ... law won

I needed money, 'cause I ... had none
I Fought the Law and the ... law won
I Fought the Law and the ... law won

I left my baby and I feel so bad
I guess my race is run
Well, she's the best girl ... I've ever had
I Fought the Law and the ... law won
I Fought the Law and the ... law won

Robbin' people with a . . . SIX gun
I Fought the Law and the ... law won
I Fought the Law and the ... law won

I miss my baby and the ... good fun
I Fought the Law and the ... law won
I Fought the Law and the ... law won

I left my baby and I feel so bad
I guess my race is run
But, she's the best girl ... I've ever had
I Fought the Law and the ... law won
I Fought the Law and the ... law won

Up to our eyeballs in reports of crime, criminals, and the criminally insane, the words of this song kept running through my brain...breakin' rocks in the hot sun...which is where a bunch of thugs need to be. I like this song. The guy screws up, commits violent acts, and gets punished. The words were written by Texan, Sonny Curtis, of Buddy Holly and the Crickets fame. Curtis has been a successful songwriter since those days, penning the theme song for the Mary Tyler Moore show and my personal favorite, "I'm No Stranger to the Rain," sung by Keith Whitley. (I listened to Keith Whitley when we were both kids and he and Ricky Skaggs were singing with Ralph Stanley. He died, too young, of course, from alcoholism.)

Back to I Fought the Law: Sonny himself recorded it, but it became a huge hit for the Bobby Fuller Four, another bunch of Texans who were climbing the charts with rockabilly music. They were hitting the big time in Los Angeles when on this day in 1966, bandleader Bobby Fuller (above) was found dead in the front seat of his mom's Oldsmobile, beaten, soaked in gasoline, with a rag stuffed in his mouth.

His death was ruled a suicide.

I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won

Not always.