There's trouble on the streets tonight

I can feel it in my bones, I had a premonition

That he should not go alone I knew the gun was loaded

But I didn't think he'd kill

Everything exploded, and the blood began to spill So baby, here's your ticket

Put the suitcase in your hand, here's a little money now

Do it just the way we planned

You be cool for twenty hours, and I'll pay you twenty grand I'm sorry it went down like this

And someone had to lose, it's the nature of the business

It's the smuggler's blues, smuggler's blues The sailors and pilots, the soldiers and the law

The pay-offs and the rip-offs and the things nobody saw

No matter if it's heroin, cocaine, or hash

You've got to carry weapons, 'cause you always carry cash There's lots of shady characters, lots of dirty deals

Ev'ry name's an alias, in case somebody squeals

It's the lure of easy money, it's got a very strong appeal Perhaps you'd understand it better

Standin' in my shoes, it's the ultimate enticement

It's the smuggler's blues, smuggler's blues You see it in the headlines, you hear it ev'ry day

They say they're gonna stop it but it doesn't go away

They move it through Miami, sell it in L.A.

They hide it up in Telluride, I mean it's here to stay It's propping up the governments in Columbia and Peru

You ask any D.E.A. man, he'll say there's nothin' we can do

From the office of the President

Right down to me and you, me and you It's a losing proposition but one you can't refuse

It's the politics of contraband

It's the smuggler's blues, smuggler's blues