Roni and I

Roni and I

Roni and I were lovers, O boy how we could love
Swore to be true, true as the moon and stars above
We were together like a hand in glove, but she played me

Roni was my woman, everyone knows
I spent nine thousand pounds on a Rolex to match her clothes
That's the way love goes, but she played me

Roni and I went walking, Roni in her brand new dress,
"My God," said I, "My Roni's no damsel in distress"!
She looked the best, but she played me

I went down to Redford; I went on the underground train
I paid five thousand pounds for Roni a ring and a chain
She nearly went insane, but she played me

I went down to 'The Corner,' to get me a glass of beer
And said to the 'fat man' (bartender), "Has my darling Roni been
here"?
I was really sincere, but she played me

I ain't gonna bring no story, or tell you a lie,
I saw your girl about an hour ago with a man named Slick Sty
Even if I had the sight of one eye, I'd say, she's playing you"!

I went back to the hotel; I didn't go there for fun,
Beneath my black trench coat I secreted a point-forty-four gun
My love for her was gone, 'cause she was playing me!

I went down to the hotel, peeped in their room so sly,
And there my darling Roni was 'loving' Slick Sty!
I could only sigh, 'cause she was playing me

I went down to the hotel door, and rang that hotel bell,
"Stand back all of you morons or I'll blow your stinking corpses to
hell!
I want Roni and I want her well, 'cause she is playing me"!

I threw back my trench coat, took out the old forty-four;
BAM-BAM-BAM! Three times I shot, right through that bedroom door
Her lover's head I tore, 'cause she played me

Roni held the quilt to her chest. "O God, baby don't shoot! I'm sorry?
I am"!
But I put my finger on the trigger, and the gun went BAM-BAM-BAM!
She played the wrong man, so I shot her down.

With the first shot Roni staggered, on the second shot she fell,
When the third shot hit her, there was a new player's face in
hell
I loved her well, but she played me

I heard a rumbling, way down under the ground
Maybe it was Roni, where I had shot down
Can't say I frowned, 'cause I played her life

Bring on your long, black hearses; bring on your brown or black
hacks,
They're taking my Roni to the graveyard but they'll never bring her
back
She was my woman. Alas, alack! But she played me

Justice Martin said to the jury, "It's plain as plain can be
This man shot his woman, so it's murder in the second degree"
I couldn't help but disagree, 'cause she played me

"Now it wasn't murder in the second nor in the first degree, it wasn't
murder in the third
I simply dropped my girl, like a hunter drops a bird
She got what she deserved, 'cause she played me.

"Go on; put me in that dungeon. Go on; place me in that cell
Put me where the strongest wind blows from the southeast corner of
hell
In the depths of the ground is where she'll dwell, cause she played
me"

I walked out of the court, as calm as a guy can be
I turned my eyes to heaven and said, "My Lord, I'm coming to thee
Roni used to be with me, but she played me"