Run Away Child, Running Wild

When I was just Otis Williams
A young punk getting into mischief
And the only temptation I knew
Was the streets

You played hooky from school so you can't go out to play
Yeah
Ooh
Mama said
For the rest of the week, in your room you gotta stay, yeah

We were five young bloods growing up in Detroit
All of us came up from the south with our folks
Who were looking for jobs in the auto industry
Country boys had to change their game quick up north

Now you feel like the whole world's picking on you
(Now you feel like the whole world's picking on you)
But deep down inside you know it ain't true (it ain't true, it ain't true)
Hey, you've been punished
'Cause your mother wants to raise you the right way, yeah
Ooh
You don't care
'Cause you already made up your mind
You wanna run away

Where you from, country bumpkin?
Who you callin' country bumpkin?
You're from Texas, ain't ya?
So, that's country bumpkin
Don't come up here actin' better than us Motor City boys
You either sang
Or you join a gang
If you can't do neither then you better learn to run
You a cheat, country bumpkin!
I ain't no cheat!
You gonna give me another turn or what?

You're on your way (oh, runaway child, running wild)
Oh, runaway child, running wild
Now I was raised by my two grandmamas in Texarkana
They are where I got my sense of order and obedience
But when I got to Detroit to live with my mama, Hazel
That obedience stuff went right out the window

Roamin' through the city goin' nowhere fast
On your own now
Hey, it's getting late
Where will you sleep?
Gettin' kinda hungry
You forgot to bring something to eat
Oh, lost with no money
You start to cry
But remember, you left home to be grown
So dry your weepin' eyes

Otis Williams
You've been cited for being involved in gang activity and robbery
You are hereby sentenced to six months in a juvenile detention center
I was only sixteen and figured
This couldn't be the path for the rest of my life
There had to be another way

Siren screaming down, neon light is flicking
You want your mama
She's much too far away
She can't hear a word you say
You heard some frightening news from the radio
About little boys runnin' away from home
And their parents don't seem to know
You wanna stop to hitch a ride and go home
But your mama told you, Never trust a stranger
And you don't know which way to go

Streets are dark and deserted (ooh)
Not a sound nor a sign of light
How you long to hear your mother's voice
Oh, run

Otis Williams
You've served six months in juvenile detention
Am I gonna see you in my courtroom again?
Judge, I swear to you and God
If you give me another chance
I ain't never gonna do nothing to make me lose my freedom again!

Runaway child, running wild
Runaway child, running wild (You better go back home where you belong)

I was free
Never looking back!
That was all she wrote for the gang story