Enjoy the song
The Ballad of Gisuppus
Well I was down on my luck
And scrapin’ by on my wits
And a wanderin’ far from home.
Well I was destitute,
Just a nobody brute,
Roamin’ down the streets of Rome.
When I spied a fight,
In the dark of the night,
And it was clear that one man had won.
He left the other dead,
With a shot to the head,
And the fella looked like he was done.
Chorus
Hey, Buddy, you’re awfully bloody,
Lying in a ditch in the road over there.
I’ve got a problem and I think I solved it,
I’ll pretend I done you in and then they’ll give me the chair.
Well the police showed up,
And saw me standin’ around.
They took me in on probable cause.
I admitted my guilt,
Plead my case to the judge,
He sentenced me to the maximum laws.
When I hear a call,
From the courthouse hall,
That said “Let that man go from his bonds.
I’m admitting my guilt.”
And as he walks in the room,
I’m shocked to see my old friend from Athens.
Then he said:
Chorus
“By Golly, you’re all in folly.
That sorry lookin’ man was in the wrong spot at the time.
It’s a problem that you pinned it on him,
You want the real culprit, well the fault is mine.”
Then believe or not,
A third man stands up,
And yells “I can’t take the shame anymore!”
“I’m Guilty!” he cries,
With tears in his eyes,
And he drops a gun to the floor.
The judge shakes his head,
Lays his gavel down,
And tells me that I’m free to go home.
So I turn to my friend,
We walk out hand in hand,
And lets me stay in his villa in Rome.
Then he says,
Chorus
“Hey, Mister, I really missed ya,
We’re gonna take you home and turn your life around.
You’ve got no problems ‘cuz we went and solved ‘em,
And if you wanna wed my sister, then just give me a shout.”
Decameron is a newsletter recounting the 14th Century set of quarantine tales for 2020. Read the original story.
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Decameron: The Ballad of Gisuppus [X/8]