There's trouble on the streets tonight
I can feel it in my bones
I had a premonition
That he should not go alone

I knew the gun was loaded
But I didn't think he'd kill
Everything exploded
And the blood began to spill

So baby, here's your ticket
Put the suitcase in your hand
Here's a little money now
Do it just the way we planned

You be cool for twenty hours
And I'll pay you twenty grand
I'm sorry it went down like this
And someone had to lose

It's the nature of the business
It's the smuggler's blues
Smuggler's Blues
The sailors and pilots

The soldiers and the law
The pay offs and the rip offs
And the things nobody saw
No matter if it's heroin, cocaine, or hash

You've got to carry weapons
'Cause you always carry cash
There's lots of shady characters
Lots of dirty deals

Every name's an alias
In case somebody squeals
It's the lure of easy money
It's got a very strong appeal

Perhaps you'd understand it better
Standin' in my shoes
It's the ultimate enticement
It's the smuggler's blues

Smuggler's blues
Oh
See it in the headlines
You hear it ev'ry day
They say they're gonna stop it

But it doesn't go away
They move it through Miami, sell it in L.A.
They hide it up in Telluride
I mean it's here to stay

It's propping up the governments in Columbia and Peru
You ask any D.E.A. man
He'll say "there's nothin' we can do"
From the office of the President

Right down to me and you, me and you
It's a losing proposition
But one you can't refuse
It's the politics of contraband
It's the smuggler's blues
Smuggler's blues

Hmm, hmm
Woah, oh
Woah, oh
Ya

Copyright: Wixen Music Publishing
Writer(s): Glenn Lewis Frey, Jack Tempchin