"Renegade" lyrics

"Renegade"

Oh, Mama, I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law
Law man has put an end to my running and I'm so far from my home
Oh, Mama I can hear you a-cryin', you're so scared and all alone
Hangman is comin' down from the gallows and I don't have very long

The jig is up, the news is out
They've finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty

Never more to go astray
This will be the end today
Of the wanted man

Oh, Mama, I've been years on the lam and had a high price on my head
Lawman said, 'Get him dead or alive.' Now it's for sure he'll see me dead
Dear Mama, I can hear you cryin', you're so scared and all alone
Hangman is comin' down from the gallows and I don't have very long

The jig is up, the news is out
They've finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty

Never more to go astray
The judge will have revenge today
On the wanted man

Oh, Mama, I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law
Hangman is comin' down from the gallows and I don't have very long

The jig is up, the news is out
They've finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty

Never more to go astray
This will be the end today
Of the wanted man

The wanted man
And I don't wanna go, oh, no
Oh, Mama, don't let them take me
No, no, no, I can't go
Hey, hey


Thanks to Tyler Barbarino, chuck, Chelsey for correcting these lyrics.
Writer(s): Tommy Shaw
This song is a letter from a criminal to his mother. He got caught and is about to be executed very soon.
Tommy Shaw, the writer of "Renegade", explained in an ESPN interview, "It's one of those songs that kind of wrote itself. I was in my house in Michigan, 1978, at the piano. I came up with this slow, dirge-y thing, very dark. I just started singing, and those are the first words that came out ('Oh, mama I'm in fear for my life...'). I've never been in trouble with the law - I don't know where it came from."
"Renegade" peaked at number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100 at the beginning of 1979.