Ricky was a young boyHe had a heart of stoneLived 9 to 5 and he workedHis fingers to the bone
Just barely out of schoolHe came from the edge of townFought like a switchbladeSo no one could take him down, oh no
He had no moneyNo, no good at homeHe walked the streets a soldierAnd he fought the world alone and now it's
Tequila in his heartbeatHis veins full of gasolineHe kept his motor runningBut it never kept him clean
They say he loved adventureRicky's the wild oneHe married troubleAnd had a courtship with a gun
Bang-bang shoot 'em upThe party never endsYou can't think of dyingWhen the bottle's your best friend and now it's
18 and life, you got it18 and life, you knowYour crime is time and it's18 and life to go18 and life, you got it18 and life, you knowYour crime is timeAnd it's 18 and life to go, ye-yeah
Accidents will happen?They all heard Ricky sayHe fired his six-shot to the windThat child blew a child away, ye-yeah
The title of the song alludes to its subject, 18-year-old Ricky, receiving a sentence of life imprisonment for the murder of another teen.
The song paints Ricky's youth as his undoing.
It was believed for a long time that guitarist Dave Sabo got the idea from a newspaper article about an 18-year-old named Ricky who was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his friend with a gun, that due to alcohol, he most likely guessed was not loaded. However, in an interview with the Professor of Rock,Sabo states that the original inspiration was his brother Rick's life after coming home from Vietnam.
The writing process eventually led the song to being about an accidental murder. The music video also alludes to this.
