I'm Not the Man - 10,000 Maniacs

It crawls on his back, won’t ever let him be

Stares at the walls until the cinder blocks can breathe

His eyes have gone away, escaping over time

He rules a crowded nation inside his mind

He knows that night like his hand

He knows every move he made

Late shift, the bell that rang, a time card won’t fade

10:05 his truck pulled home

10:05 he climbed his stair

About the time he was accused of being there

But I’m not the man

He goes free

As I wait on the row for the man to test the rope

He’ll slip around my throat

And silence me

On the day he was tried no witness testified

Nothing but evidence, not hard to falsify

His own confession was a prosecutor’s prize

Made up of fear, of rage and of outright lies

But I’m not the man

He goes free

As the candle vigil glows

As they burn my clothes

As the crowd cries, «hang him slow!»

And I feel my blood go cold

He goes free

Call out the KKK​, they’re wild after me

And with that frenzied look of half-demented zeal

They’d love to serve me up my final meal

Who’ll read my final rite

And hear my last appeal

Who struck this devil’s deal?