Story Behind The Song
One day I looked out an upstairs window down at the parking lot of the Charleston County court complex to see a van unloading 20 or so young people, aged 8 to 18, all wearing handcuffs and leg chains. I asked a bailiff what was going on. He replied, "oh, today is kid's day. It happens every Wednesday. They'll bring in 100 or so kids who've been charged with everything from shoplifting to killing their parents. It's sad, but it happens every week, in every county in America."
Song Description
A lament over the lost nature of many of the young people that encounter the criminal justice system.
| Song Length |
6:35 |
Genre |
Rock - Religious |
| Tempo |
Medium Slow (91 - 110) |
Lead Vocal |
Male Vocal |
| Mood |
Mad, Troubled |
Subject |
Teens, Anger |
| Similar Artists |
Robert Plant, Glenn Frey |
Language |
English |
| Era |
1990 - 1999 |
| |
Lyrics
CHILDREN IN CHAINS (c) 1998
by Fletcher & Betty Johnson
Children in chains, lonely mamas standing there.
Children in chains, say nobody cares.
Children in chains, what can we do?
These children, Lord, they never heard of you.
Filing in one by one.
Wearing bracelets of stainless steel.
I look into their eyes
Trying to see what it is they feel.
Black-robed woman dons her justice mask,
Weighing the lives of children, she's done her task.
End of day, the gavel cleaves the air.
She tries to bathe away her sorrow,
But tonight, she dines on despair.
(chorus)
Children in chains, lonely mamas standing there.
Children in chains, they say nobody cares.
Children in chains, oh what can we do?
These children, Lord, never heard of you.
There's a place up the road
Way back up in the pines
A brand new facility
Where young gansters do their time.
They never turn away young killers, thieves and whores
This place it has not name.
It's just the house, the house of many doors.
Every once in a while
One screams in the night.
Mostly he's been stabbed or raped,
sometimes he sees the light.
He cries out, drowning in his tears.
He's bought a set of chains that he'll wear,
For the rest of his years.
Children in chains, filing in one by one.
Children in chains, system's got their knives and guns.
Children in chains, wearing bracelets of stainless steel.
These children, Lord, they've got to know your love is real.
Children in chains, lonely mamas standing there.
Children in chains, they say nobody cares.
Children in chains, wearing bracelets of stainless steel.
These children, Lord, they got to know your love is real.
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