V1: Billy was what he was – naked as the sky.
Billy could do anything but lie.
What he don’t know won’t hurt him – his friends would often say.
(but) Billy was impervious to hate.

Brk: But the dark sensations didn’t justify his pain.
Billy would come out again – he’d never be the same.
To his face his father said, “We’d all be fine if you were dead.”
But Billy would never…complain. [fight back]

V2: One day Billy thought he’d, really had enough.
So Billy took a shot gun and some shells.
(He) started with his family and then went down the street;
from school he finally found himself to jail.

Brk2: And his picture cross the Nation reads from coast-to-coast.
“There’s no sanity among our youth – we’d really like to boast.”
In the final hours ‘for the State took Billy’s own life
A reporter wrote this article and said:

V3: Billy was abnormal; some things I can not print.
At school, they said he left them with no choice.
Instead of tryin’ to help him, they put him out the gate:
To deaf ears, he didn’t have a voice.

Brk3: So, privately, inside himself – he wouldn’t shed a tear.
There’s no reason for for the apathy each day of every year.
So if they’ve passed judgement – let me pass some of my own
I only wish that my ol’ man, had been home.

V4: Only one showed up at Billy’s final stop and
he felt like ‘the’ criminal inside.
He watched them strap him down and, saw the lights go out,
“I envy you,” he said, and then he cried.