Broke Down Hard — A sunlit illustrated broken-down truck beside a Central Valley road with a rambling musician, tools and a luminous sunrise

The songbook

Broke Down Hard

Words by Douglas Heyes Jr. Listen to the recorded versions and follow the lyric below.

Original Doug Heyes lyrics · AI-generated music & vocals

A former hometown celebrity describes a fall into imprisonment, wounded pride and a sentence measured in years. His prison-yard complaints mix bravado with frustration, but the ending refuses complete defeat. Even with freedom gone and his reputation broken, he insists there is still another hand left to play.

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Recorded versions

3 recordings. Different voices and arrangements bring another side of the song into the light.

Lyrics

Broke Down Hard

Words by Douglas Heyes Jr

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BROKE DOWN HARD

I've been Broke Down Hard
And Baby, it's all because of you
Yeah, I've been Broke Down Hard
Don't know what I'm gonna do
Jacked up in the mornin'
Stacked up late at night
Cracked up, baby, upside down
At every game in town

Cuz I'm Broke Down Hard
I'm Broke Down Hard again
This old prison yard
Is my one and only friend
I'm always under guard
Since they put me in the Pen
Cuz I'm Broke Down Hard
And I'm doin' 6 to 10

Was a time I used to be
A big, hometown celebrity
But that shit got the best of me
When I was only 23
Now I got time to walk that line
In the Penitentiary
Now my name's been gettin' round
And they're puttin' you with me
All over this little town
Singin', Baby Can't You See
Folsom Prison, Johnny Cash
They can all go kiss my ass

Cuz I'm Broke Down Hard
Time to play another card
When I sing I Beg Your Pardon
I gotta sing it for the Warden
Fat wife in the Garden
With her prunin' shears
Holding down her Doberman
And choppin' off his ears

Man, I'm Broke Down Hard
I tell you that it's true
If you're Broke Down Hard
Man, you're gonna make it through
Struggle with it Saturday
Conjugal visit Sunday
You still got one more hand to play
Broke Down Hard, but that's okay....

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© Douglas Heyes Jr. All rights reserved.