A Cowboy'S Last Ride

He was born to a West Texas sky
Mama worked the mill and Daddy worked the mine
Daddy was a good man, but he liked that corn liquor
One night he met a man whose draw was quicker

The sun rose on a fresh grave. He stood there by his mother
A shovel in one hand and a gun in the other
The killer wore a silver star, the boy found him at the bar
And dropped the hammer on daddy's revolver

He fled the law from El Paso to Waco
They ran him south all the way to Lerado
He cut a trail to the border on a Palomino quarter
Most of the law never made it to the Rio

He wasn't born a gun fighting man
He just played the cards in his hand

Many men have tried, and many men have died
Trying to kill the man responsible
For many a cowboys last ride

She was born a schoolteacher's daughter
She'd been raised right and washed by the water
She found him hiding in her back yard leaning on the well
A bullet in his leg and a posse on the hill

She hid him in the house when they came around
She nursed him to health, and he was never found
They wed in the spring, but the word was in the wind
There were holes in his story, tales of past sin

Seven months he left his gun hanging on the hearth
One night he went for wood, they were waiting in the dark
When the shots rang out, she dropped the kettle to the floor
Saw his gun on the mantle, and knew he'd need it no more

She fell in love with a wanted man
She stole his heart and his gun hand

Many men have tried, and many men have died
But she was the reason

For a cowboys last ride

He wasn't born a gun fighting man
He just played the cards in his hand

Many men have tried, and many men have died
Trying to kill the man responsible

For many a cowboys last ride

The sun rose on a fresh grave, she stood there by his mother

A shovel in one hand, and a baby in the other