Rotting On Remand Lyrics - Billy Bragg

I stood before the judge that day 

As he refused me bail 

And I knew that I would spend my time 

Awaiting trial in jail 

I said there is no justice 

As they led me out of the door 

And the judge said, "this isn't a court of justice, son 

This is a court of law." 

They first sent me to Windsor 

And then to stoke on Trent 

In a holding cell in Liverpool 

Three days and nights I spent 

My solicitor can't find me 

And my family don't know 

I keep telling them that I'm innocent 

They just say, "come on son, in you go." 

I was picked up on suspicion of something I haven't done 

Here I sit in 'f' wing waiting for my trial to come 

It's a cruel unusual punishment that society demands 

Innocent till proven guilty, rotting on remand 

I ended up in this jail 

Built in 1882 

When one man to one prison cell 

Was a Victorian value 

Now three of us are squeezed in here 

And you can't escape the smell 

Of that bucket in the corner 

And we eat in here as well 

They let me out of this cage 

To slop that bucket out 

To get my food and bring it back 

And if I'm lucky, get a shower 

Apart from one hour's exercise 

I'm locked in here all day 

You don't turn criminals into citizens 

By treating them this way 

Is the price of law and order the stench of wormwood scrubs 

With judges quick to sentence more down from above 

It's a cruel unusual punishment that society demands 

Innocent till proven guilty, rotting on remand