The Ballad Of Sonny Liston Lyrics

Sonny liston was a man with dead eyes.
every man alive was scared to look in them cold dead cloudy eyes.
he couldn't read & he couldn't write.
all that he knew how to do was rob and he could fight.
he never knew the day or year that he was born.
his mama had 13 kids on an arkansas farm.
he never had no love to share for his dad.
he said that bastard beat me every chance he had.
he started his career out on a robbing spree
where he and his 2 buddies got thrown in the slammer.
he learned to box there.
the wardens & the preachers taught him.
he got so good, they let him out early to benefit the sport and the nation.
back then boxing was ruled by frankie carbo.
him & a handful of other mafioso types you wouldn't wanna fuck with.
they got sonny's contract fair
and square by tapping his old manager on the shoulder saying get outta here.
he fought his way to the top and he never did look back.
knocked the champ on his ass in 2 minutes flat
and that's where his troubles began.
he started drinking gambling and partying all night long.
but he was fighting and winning still so nobody seemed to mind.
then came cassius clay, he gave sonny the fight of his life.
7 rounds later there was a new king of the ring,
and sonny walked away with his head in his hands.
now sonny still worked for the mob,
and the story goes he upset them.
so his wife comes home to find his dead bloated body
filled with drugs he never used