"It says here you're from Houston: You're certified to drive a truck.
"It doesn't say what you been doin' the last five years."
Then I watched his eyes keep readin', then I watched his eyes look up,
An' watched another job I needed disappear.
'Cause when they get to the line: "Have you been convicted of a crime?"
They say: "Thanks for comin' in," an' they don't call you back.
I ain't askin' for every job under the sun:
I just want one second chance.

On August twenty-second, well, little Jacob's turnin' five,
But his Momma moved him half-a-state away.
I left another message on her phone at home last night,
An' she fin'lly had her lawyer call today.
She knows I can't afford to take this thing to court,
And I'm tryin' hard to make her understand:
I ain't askin' for every weekend of every month,
I just want one second chance.

I was young an' I was stupid: I regret it every day.
I ain't sayin' I didn't do it but I 've paid for my mistakes.
It's a lost and empty feelin' when they don't want you around,
Yeah, I finally got my freedom but what good is it now?

There's some days when it feels like it's been a hundred years;
Sometimes it feels like only yesterday.
We were paintin' Jacob's nursery, countin' days till he was here.
Next thing I knew, I'd thrown it all away.
Now I know I can't go back to the life I used to have,
When I still held the whole world in my hands:
I had a job, I had a wife, I had a son,
Now I just want one second chance.