Seventeen Years
Love Behind Bars: Marty Robbins' Seventeen Years Unveiled
Lyrics
From the letter you write me I guess that you're doing fine
Interprets a letter as a gauge of the listener's well-being, suggesting they seem to be doing well.
I suppose you're too busy to remember I'm here doing time
Expresses a perception that the listener is too occupied to recall the speaker, who is currently serving a prison sentence.
I doubt if you're lonely I doubt if you've cried any tears
Casts doubt on the idea that the listener is experiencing loneliness or shedding tears.
I doubt if you do any thinking about me while I'm doing seventeen years
Questions whether the listener contemplates or reflects on the speaker's situation during the lengthy prison term.
If you could imagine some things that I've had to go through
Suggests challenging experiences faced by the speaker in prison and emphasizes that they endure these hardships for the listener.
Perhaps you'd remember I'm doing them all just for you
Indicates that the speaker's actions and struggles are motivated by love for the listener.
But you don't see the bars you can't hear that big iron gate
Highlights the listener's inability to see the physical constraints of prison, including bars and gates.
For you'd never forget that you'd never regret that
Emphasizes the listener's potential forgetfulness and lack of regret, asserting that the speaker endures imprisonment for their sake.
I'm here doin' time for your sake
Reiterates the idea that the speaker is incarcerated for the well-being or benefit of the listener.
You know I love you and that's why I'll never reveal
Declares the speaker's love for the listener and the intention to keep the reason for their imprisonment confidential.
The reason I'm stuck here you know that my lips are sealed
Asserts the speaker's commitment to secrecy regarding the circumstances leading to their imprisonment.
I doubt if you're lonely I doubt if you've cried any tears
Reiterates skepticism about the listener's loneliness, tears, and thoughts regarding the speaker's situation during the extended period of imprisonment.
I doubt if you do any thinking about me while I'm doing seventeen years
Echoes doubt regarding the listener's contemplation of the speaker's situation over the seventeen-year period.
I doubt if you do any thinking about me while I'm doing seventeen years
Repeats the skepticism expressed in lines 14 and 15 about the listener's thoughts during the lengthy prison term.
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