He was standin' on the corner
A hundred dollar bill in his hand
Said, I could feed a lot of these
But that ain't the business at hand
Over on this side of town
He gave that money to the man
And he bought a little mercy for now
Old Joe don't know how it got started
I guess it was the fire in her eyes
He loved his wife and children
And he wasn't into telling all these lies
But she gave herself so freely
In that room at the top of the stairs
He'd go to her in hope he'd
find a little mercy there
She was all alone that evening
What was she thinking about?
And I guess it was the only way out
There's a pistol in a pawn
She took it home to find out
How warm a little mercy could feel