Richfield Whistle

[00:00.16] My name is James Lucas
[00:05.06] I was born in Remington
[00:09.89] And paroled from Richfield Prison
[00:14.62] In the winter of '81
[00:19.49] I was free and on the streets of Indiana
[00:24.49] I'd just turned 32
[00:29.07] Just a man with nowhere left to run
[00:33.83] No different, sir, than you
[00:41.03] Me and Pat, we married in the spring
[00:45.95] Moved in with her Ma and Pa
[00:50.87] On our wedding night, she sighed, "Jimmy
[00:55.36] We can have anything we want"
[01:00.69] It was for those things we wanted
[01:04.98] We worked as hard as two people could
[01:10.33] But somehow in the end, mister
[01:14.97] This didn't do no good
[01:21.90] The prison got me drivin' delivery
[01:26.48] For Mr. Wills over in Ridgeside
[01:31.18] Well, I started loadin' a little extra
[01:36.52] And I'd sell it on the side
[01:41.08] I didn't like what I was doin'
[01:46.00] I didn't lose no sleep at night
[01:50.96] Mr. Wills, he was a rich man
[01:55.54] He'd been a rich man all his life
[02:02.85] I was on the loadin' dock one evenin'
[02:07.78] When I heard the warehouse phone
[02:12.67] The dispatcher said, "Jim, they wanna see you
[02:17.44] In the front office 'fore you go home"
[02:22.78] All Mr. Wills said was, "I don't understand
[02:27.38] I could send you back to Richfield fast
[02:32.39] If you needed some extra money, Jim
[02:37.14] All you had to do was ask"
[02:41.56]
[03:03.33] Well, that night me and Pat, we had a fight
[03:08.49] I was out drivin' 'round in the rain
[03:13.57] With a fifth of gin and a half tank of gas
[03:18.22] And ten dollars to my name
[03:23.18] I passed a deserted liquor store
[03:27.73] Way out on Highway 1
[03:32.27] I turned and pulled into that parking lot
[03:37.00] Got out, but I let my motor run
[03:44.28] Well, I stood lookin' in the window
[03:50.04] For a long, long while
[03:54.56] When I walked in, the man behind the register
[03:59.36] He looked at me and smiled
[04:04.02] "That's some weather we're havin' out there
[04:08.99] Can I help you find somethin', friend?"
[04:13.93] I didn't answer, I just stood there
[04:18.62] Then I turned around and went
[04:25.38] I don't know how long I sat in my driveway
[04:30.62] My shirt was covered in sweat
[04:35.44] The house was dark when I went in
[04:39.94] Pat was lyin' awake in bed
[04:44.74] She hit the light, I was standin' in the doorway
[04:49.40] She said, "I was worried, where you'd been so long?"
[04:54.99] I felt her arms around me
[04:58.89] She said, "Jimmy, I'm so glad you're home"
[05:09.37] Richfield Prison stands on a high hill
[05:14.16] Where the county line runs out
[05:19.03] There's a whistle, blows every time a man comes in
[05:23.94] Or a man gets out
[05:28.84] That night, we lay wrapped in each other's arms
[05:33.93] Listenin' to the rain
[05:38.77] I heard that Richfield whistle blowin'
[05:42.78] Just blowin' in my dreams
[05:47.80]