Why must you record

My phone calls

Are you planning a bootleg L P

Said you've been threatened

By gangsters

Now it's you

That's threatening me

Can't fight corruption

With con tricks

They use the law

To commit crime

I dread

Dread to think what

The future will bring

When we're living in

Gangster times

Don't call me Scarface

Don't interrupt

While I'm talking

Or they'll confiscate

All your guitars

A catch 22 says

If I sing the truth

They won't make me

An overnight star

Don't offer us legal

Protection

They use the law

To commit crime

I dread to think

What the future will bring

When we're living in

Real gangster times

Bernie Rhodes knows

Don't argue