This is about Mark Brandon Reid, also known as "Chopper." He was sent to jail for murdering a gang leader and he got sentenced to 16 years. Three years into his sentence Chopper became disillusioned with jail life and hated working for the "screws." His friend and crime partner Jimmy Loughnan planned an escape, but because of Jimmy's fear of tight spaces, they were caught and given solitary for two weeks. Bon Scott read about this in a newspaper and started writing lyrics for a song. Everyone in AC/DC loved the idea of a criminal-themed song, and they finished it in about a week.
AC/DC made a reasonably high-end performance video for this song, complete with the boys playing on a bunch of rocks as various explosions go on around them.
Lyrics
There was a friend of mine on murder
And the judge's gavel fell
Jury found him guilty
Gave him sixteen years in hell
He said "I ain't spending my life here
I ain't livin' alone
Ain't breakin' no rocks on the chain gang
I'm breakin' out and heading home"
Gonna make a (jailbreak)
And I'm looking towards the sky
I'm gonna make a (jailbreak)
Oh, how I wish that I could fly
All in the name of liberty
All in the name of liberty
Got to be free
(Jailbreak), let me outta here
(Jailbreak), sixteen years
(Jailbreak), had more than I can take
(Jailbreak)
He said he'd seen his lady being fooled with
By another man
She was down and he was up
Had a gun in his hand
Bullets started flying everywhere
People start to scream
Big man lyin' on the ground
With a hole in his body
Where his life had been
But it was all in the name of liberty
All in the name of liberty
I got to be free
(Jailbreak)
(Jailbreak)
I got to break out
Out of here
Heartbeats, they were racing
Freedom, he was chasin'
Spotlights, sirens
Rifles firing
But he made it out
...with a bullet in his back
Jailbreak, jailbreak
Jailbreak, jailbreak
Jailbreak, jailbreak
Jailbreak, jailbreak
Jailbreak, jailbreak
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