~~~ They gave me a suit and a $20 bill When I left the penitentiary Then they swung open wide those big iron gates And say they had rehabilitated me But society doesn't feel the same I've lost my home and my wife And they say I got no one but myself to blame Cause I wear these invisible stripes A $20 bill Won't buy me my fill Of all the things I wanted all my life And a brand-new prison-made 3 button suit Won't hide these invisible stripes No matter where I go They say there ain’t no dough That don't want an ex convict around So I'm broke all the time And they say that I'm A menace to the decent people in town The $20 bill is in somebodies till And the suit doesn't look brand new It doesn't seem that fate Is going to let me go straight These invisible stripes show through I did my life for a home and a wife And a chance to show I can do right But I'm hardly hired before they say I'm fired They seen these invisible stripes I dreamed through the years Of sweat and tears on how life on the outside would be And that old prison yard Didn't seem so hard When I thank god the day I'll be free I'm finally free but nobody wants me And I'm a travilin the road thats right I tried to pay my debt But they won't let me forget This suit of invisible stripes A $20 bill Won't buy me my fill Of all the things I wanted all my life And a brand new prison-made 3 button suit Won't hide these invisible stripes ~~~