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
Ev'ry 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

You 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