The Confession Lyrics - Phil Ochs

There's nothing as cold as the freeze in your soul 

At the moment when you are arrested 

There's nothing as real as the iron and steel 

On the handcuffs when you protested 

You race through the night in the prison of fright 

As you head for the quicksand of questions 

And children unborn will see you in scorn 

If ever you make a confession 

And the click of a lock is a shiver of shock 

As you wonder what are their objectives 

Upon your guard for the voices are hard 

That belong to the cops and detectives 

And it's hard to believe as they roll up their sleeves 

That you're in for more than a session 

And it couldn't be true and it's not really you 

That they want to make a confession 

You cannot conceal the confusion you feel 

As they steadily work to out guess you 

And some will pretend they are really your friend 

Who rally around to your rescue 

With frightening force your mind is divorced 

To give them the guilty impression 

Every word that you hear is a weapon of fear 

To win the war of confessions 

The lights shoot a glare, like bullets they stare 

And burn out the base of conviction 

And you squint and you blink and you try not to think 

Of the cobwebs of contradictions 

And your clothes will be wet with the rivers of sweat 

That tells the tale of attention 

And once in awhile the clock has to smile 

As it counts the time of confession 

The questions will rain and pour on your brain 

With the proper speed they are driven 

The circles they pace and the sneer on their face 

Tells you no quarter is given 

You can salvage your mind when the paper is signed 

Then the crime is solved by oppression 

But win, lose or draw, it's the rule of the law 

To always work for confession 

And the balance of scales seems distant and pale 

In the shadowy days of the trial 

And sometimes they die, with their name on a lie 

When it's all too late for denial 

When agreement is full the switch must be pulled 

And the chair leaves no hope for correction 

But the chances are large he was guilty as charged 

After all, he made a confession