I looked back over my shoulder as the prison doors were closing

Fifteen years of dreaming dreams were left behind that gate

I had grown a damn sight older, I was dressed in dated clothing

I left exactly as I came but I didn't take the hate.

As I drank a cup of coffee in the cafe they call freedom

Fifty metres down the road from where I'd served my time

And I felt a little homesick for that cosy little prison

The slop pails and the lousy food and the friends I'd left behind

Chorus:
But it was home to me

They were my family

They were the only friends I ever had

Now if I want to be back with my family

I'm gonna have to go do something bad.

And I miss the friendly faces of the warders in the morning

When they woke me up and told me what the weather was outside

Everybody knew their places, the ambitious got a warning

With no success or failure, you must be satisfied.

Chorus:

But it was home to me

They were my family

They were the only friends I ever had

Now if I want to be back with my family

I'm gonna have to go do something bad.