Pistol shots rang out after a barroom night
Enters a basketball walk-on from behind a wall
He see's a mom in a pool of blood
Cries out, "my God who is gonna take the fall"

Here comes the story of Miller's reign
The man the public came to blame
For somethin' that he never done
They want to put him in a prison cell, but one time he coulda been
The NCAA champion of the world

Three bodies runnin', does the walk-on see
And another man named Johnson, movin' around mysteriously
"I didn't do it" he says, and he throws up his hands
"I was only defending my girlfriend, I hope you understand"

"I saw them leavin'" he says, and he stops
"One of us had better call up the cops"
And so Johnson calls the cops
And they arrive on the scene
With their red lights flashin' in a cold Tuscaloosa night

Meanwhile (next day), far away in another part of town
Miller and a couple of friends are drivin' around
Number one contender for the NCAA crown
Had no idea what kinda shite was about to go down

When a cop called him over to the side of the road
Just like the time before and the time before that
In Alabama that's just the way things go
If you're black you might as well not show up on the street
'Less you want to draw the heat (unless you're a star basketball player)

Miller had a partner and he had a rap for the cops
Him and Jaden Bradley were just out prowlin' around
He said "I saw two men runnin' out, they looked like middleweights
Jumped into a white car with out-of-state plates"
And the walk-on just nodded his head
Cop said "Wait a minute, boys, we have survivor that's not dead"
So they took Miller to the infirmary
And though this survivor could hardly see
He told them he could identify the guilty men

Four in the afternoon' and they haul Miller in
They took him to the hospital and they brought him upstairs
The wounded man looks up through his drowsy eyes
Say "Why'd you bring him in here for? He ain't the guy"

Here comes the story of Miller's reign
The man the public came to blame
For somethin' that he never done
They wanted to put him in a prison cell, but one time he coulda been
The NCAA champion of the world

Two months later, the Azecs are on flame
Miller is in Louisville, fightin' for his name
While Jaden Bradley still has no game
And the public are puttin' the screws to him, lookin' for somebody to blame

"Remember that murder that happened outside a bar?"
"Remember you said you saw the getaway car?"
"You think you'd like to play prison ball with the law?"
"Think it mighta been that 1st rounder that you saw runnin' that night?"
"Don't forget that you are not white"

Jaden Bradley said "I'm really not sure"
The cops said "A poor boy like you, could use this break
We got you for the summer job and we're talkin' to your friend Melo
You don't want to have to go to jail, be a nice fellow
You'll be doin' society a favor
That son of a bitch is brave and gettin' braver
We want to put his arse in stir
We want to pin this murder on him
He ain't no Gentleman Jim"

Miller could take over a game when he was clutch
But he never did like to talk about it all that much
"It's my work" he'd say, "and I do it for pay
And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way"

Up to some paradise
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
And ride a horse along a trail
But then they want to take him to the jailhouse
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse

All of Miller's cards were marked in advance
The trial was a pig-circus, fortunate to be a superstar by chance
The judge made Miller's witnesses friends from the country club
To the Bama folks who watched, he was a revolutionary Gump

And for the Auburn folks he was just a crazy nizzle
No one doubted that he pulled the trizzle
And though they could produce the gun
The defense attorney said he wasn't the one who did the deed
And the all-white Bama jury agreed

Miller was falsely tried (in public opinion)
The crime was murder one, guess who testified?
Johnson and Humprhey and they both baldly lied
And the newspapers, they all went along for the ride

How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fool's hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game
Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise
While Miller watches the rest of the tourney from his dorm-room cell
An innocent (allegedly) man in a living hell

Yes, that's the story of the Miller's reign
But it won't be over 'til they clear his name
And make him give the Harris' family some money for what he's done.
The public wanted to put him in a prison cell, but one time he coulda been
The NCAA champion of the world