I star ted out with a gun
when I was very young
My first small gamble and then
I ran with a gang and we robbed a bank
And I ended up in a pen
There among other men
who were due in time
I learned the tricks of the trade
We planned to break and one rainy day
We took the chance and got away
We ran for miles through
the rainy woods
Somehow they lost the trail
I vowed right then until the end
They'd never put me back in jail
And all the papers and on the radio
Warning everyone against
our desperate plan
And they refer to me as Public Enemy
Number One
Public Enemy
Number One
I lived from then on
without a moment's peace
Afraid and always on the run
I couldn't show myself
in any normal light
Of course, we lived by the gun
I was just a kid who was bored with life
When I first started out on the run
They're closing in on me
and soon there'll be a new
public enemy,
number one
From John Dillinger to Al Capone,
they all have paid their price
Men who go against God in law
live a lonely, troubled life
The only reward in the end
is death or life in a coal steel cell
Oh, there'll be a new public enemy
But don't ever let it be you
Don't ever let it be you