Cm, Fm, Gm, Ab
(If you play with a capo on the 3rd fret, the chords are Am, Dm, Em, and F respectively)

Cm
Oh, let me tell my story friend
                Fm       Gm            Cm
That you might learn to stay away from sin
Cm
I took a life not mine to take
           Fm       Gm                Cm
Imprisoned for this haunting dread mistake

Cm
My heart was harder than my soul
               Fm    Gm              Cm
They sentenced me to life without parole
Cm
Where no one cares, we’re all the same
           Fm       Gm                Cm
And I must wear this number for my name

[Chorus]
            Ab              Cm
Now life to me is black and white
                Fm        Gm            Cm
I’ll wear these stripes until the day I die
                   Ab             Cm
But this ball and chain around my leg
              Fm
Won’t drag me down, won’t drag me down
Gm        Cm
When I am dead

Cm
My mother prayed so hard for me
            Fm    Gm            Cm
She did her time down on bended knees
Cm
But I was young and I had no fear
             Fm           Gm          Cm
Her pleading voice still echoes in my ear

Cm
Don’t let the beauty blind your eyes
                Fm   Gm              Cm
This world is filled with discolored lies
Cm
For greener fields don’t sell your soul
                    Fm   Gm                      Cm
You’ll think you’re rich with a pocket of fool’s gold

[Chorus]
            Ab              Cm
Now life to me is black and white
                Fm        Gm            Cm
I’ll wear these stripes until the day I die
                   Ab             Cm
But this ball and chain around my leg
              Fm
Won’t drag me down, won’t drag me down
Gm        Cm
When I am dead

[Break]

Cm
I’d rather be in this dark cell
           Fm       Gm            Cm
Than to be free and die and go to hell
Cm
God bless the day of my new birth
               Fm     Gm                Cm
I don’t have to pay the price that I deserve

[Chorus]
            Ab              Cm
Now life to me is black and white
                Fm        Gm            Cm
I’ll wear these stripes until the day I die
                   Ab             Cm
But this ball and chain around my leg
              Fm
Won’t drag me down, won’t drag me down
Gm        Cm
When I am dead

[Break]

[Ending]
             Ab               Cm
And when I’m dead and take my flight
             Fm       Gm          Cm
I’ll leave behind this world of black and white