i'd like to hold my head up

and be proud of who i am

but they won't let my secret go untold

i paid the debt i owed them but

they're still not satisfied

now i'm a branded man out in the cold

when they let me out of prison

i held my head up high

determined i would rise above the shame

but no matter where i travel

the black mark follows me

i'm branded with a number on my name

i'd like to hold my head up

and be proud of who i am

but they won't let my secret go untold

i paid the debt i owed them but

they're still not satisfied

now i'm a branded man out in the cold

4 bar break

if i live to be a hundred

guess i'll never clear my name

cause everybody knows

i've been in jail

no matter where i'm living

i've got to tell them where i've been

or they'll send me back

to prison if i fail

i'd like to hold my head up

and be proud of who i am

but they won't let my secret go untold

i paid the debt i owed them but

they're still not satisfied

now i'm a branded man out in the cold

yes i'm a branded man out in the cold