14th Annual Great American Song Contest
First Place winner - Lyric Writing

“Cold Blood”
© Mark Stepakoff

"COLD BLOOD"

She said she saw my ad in the telephone book
Her sink it was leaking; could I take a look?
She gave me her address and I wrote it down
Then I drove my truck over to the rich part of town
I walked up the drive from the quiet cul-de-sac
I heard a voice tell me to come round the back
She stood in the shadows and beckoned me in
That’s when I saw the bruises just under her chin

(Chorus)
And cold blood ran through my veins
Cold as the storms on the Alberta plains
That many a time cause the rivers to flood
Yes I felt the rushing of cold blood

Guess she needed someone in whom to confide
So she opened the door, and she showed me inside
We sat in the kitchen; she poured us some tea
I could smell her perfume as she sat down next to me
Her husband, she said, owned the Second Street Bank
And his temper was bad and was worse when he drank
Which she said pretty much every day was the case
Then he’d come home at night and put a fist to her face

(Chorus)
And cold blood ran through my veins
Cold as the hail through the Iowa rains
That can cause a spring crop to be nipped in the bud
Yes my heart was pumping out cold blood

It was seven long years since I’d been in the hole
Yeah but technically I was still on parole
So I wasn’t supposed to be packing a gun
Oh but you can be sure I knew how to get one
The very next morning, as you might have read
I stormed into the bank, and put the gun to his head
He pleaded and begged me to spare him his life
Saying “Don’t hurt me Mister, I’ve got a young wife”

(Chorus)
And cold blood ran through my veins
Cold as the pistol I held to his brains
Then I watched as he fell with a sickening thud
Yes I shot that bastard in cold blood

The newspapers called it a botched robbery
A crazy ex-con on a murderous spree
With no explanation for his evil ways
And a young widow left now to mourn all her days
My sentence was long, but my trial it was short
She sat the whole time in the back of the court
No show of emotion, no words did she say
But her eyes looked at mine as they took me away

(Chorus)
And cold blood ran through my veins
Cold as the iron on these shackles and chains
That I’ll wear till I’m laid ‘neath the earth and the mud
And my body’s been drained of its cold blood

Meanwhile far away in the rich part of town
She pours a martini and lets her hair down
It goes down so easy, that Tanqueray gin
As easy as painting a bruise on her chin
The truth is her husband was kind and sincere
He loved her to pieces; he bored her to tears
She longed for his money and bided her time
I guess that her blood’s even colder than mine

(Chorus)
Yes cold blood runs through her veins
On her mantle’s a vase with her husband’s remains
While she’s sleeping tonight with some handsome young stud
Well her flesh may be warm, but she’s got cold blood

© Mark Stepakoff
    Website: markstepakoff.com