I still feel twenty five
Most of the time
I still raise a little cain with the boys
Honky Tonks and pretty women
Lord I'm still right there with them
Singing above the crowd and the noise

Sometimes I feel like Jesse James
Still trying to make a name
Knowing nothings gonna change what I am
I was a young troubadour
When I rode in on a song
And I'll be an old troubadour
When I'm gone

Well, the truth about a mirror
It's that a damn old mirror
Don't really tell the whole truth
It don't show what's deep inside
Oh read between the lines
It's really no reflection of my youth

Sometimes I feel like Jesse James
Still trying to make a name
Knowing nothings gonna change what I am
I was a young troubadour
When I rode in on a song
And I'll be an old troubadour
When I'm gone

I was a young troubadour
When I rode in on a song
And I'll be an old troubadour
When I'm gone

I'll be an old troubadour
When I'm gone

He looked down into her brown eyes
And said, "Say a prayer for me."
She threw her arms around him,
Whispered, "God will keep us free."

They could hear the riders comin',
He said, "This is my last fight.
If they take me back to Texas,
They won't take me back alive."

There were seven Spanish angels at the altar of the sun.
They were prayin' for the lovers in the valley of the gun.

When the battle stopped and the smoke cleared,
There was thunder from the throne,
And seven Spanish angels took another angel home.

She reached down and picked the gun up
That lay smoking in his hand.
She said, "Father, please forgive me;
I can't make it without my man."

And she knew the gun was empty,
And she knew she couldn't win,
But her final prayer was answered
When the rifles fired again.

There were seven Spanish angels at the altar of the sun.
They were prayin' for the lovers in the valley of the gun.

When the battle stopped and the smoke cleared,
There was thunder from the throne,
And seven Spanish angels took another angel home.

I was a highwayman
Along the coach roads I did ride
With sword and pistol by my side
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade
The bastards hung me in the spring of twenty-five
But I am still alive

I was a sailor
I was born upon the tide
And with the sea I did abide
I sailed a schooner round the Horn to Mexico
I went aloft and furled the mainsail in a blow
And when the yards broke off they said that I got killed
But I am living still

I was a dam builder across the river deep and wide
Where steel and water did collide
A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado
I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below
They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound
But I am still around, I'll always be around and around and around and
Around and around

I fly a star-ship across the Universe divide
And when I reach the other side
I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will remain
And I'll be back again, and again and again and again and again

An old cowboy went riding out one dark and windy day
Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way
When all at once a mighty herd of red-eyed cows he saw
Plowing through the ragged skies and up a cloudy draw

Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel
A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky
For he saw the riders coming hard and he heard their mournful cries

Yippie I oh oh oh
Yippie I aye ye ye
Ghost riders in the sky

Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, their shirts all soaked with sweat
He's riding hard to catch that herd but he ain't caught em yet
Cause they got to ride forever on that range up in the sky
On horses snorting fire as they ride on hear their cries

As the riders loped on by him he heard one call his name
'If you wanna save your soul from hell a-riding on our range
Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride
Trying to catch the devil's herd across these endless skies

Yippie I oh oh oh
Yippie I aye ye ye
Ghost riders in the sky
Ghost riders in the sky
Ghost riders in the sky

One time I drove to see a girl across the country
One night as I was driving through New Mexico
I had the windows wide open
It was cold and I was crying
And I laid her letter on the radio
Then I stopped outside of Tahoe
thru this tiny mining town
At a diner to refill for the ride
And in the wind I heard this crying
Like a heart broke right in two
I turned my collar up and went inside.

Well, I saw this smiling waitress
Joshing friendly with these truckers
They'd give her pats and she'd give them shoves
I said: "Miss what's that awful crying?"
Everybody laughed and said:
"It's the tomb of the unknown love"
And then they pointed out the window to this stone
All by itself, beneath the tree, beside the hill
And on that winter night
I read these words alone
These words that are haunting me still, it said:

Here lies a young man struck down in his prime
By the awesome burning power of love
He couldn't stand this true love cheating
So he shot the girl down
They hung him from that tree up (right) above
I know that local folks say it's the wind
But I know it's crying
from the tomb of the unknown love.

So I drove on to my destination
I did the job my heart commanded of me
And when the sheriff sirens came
I didn't even try to fight
They counted ten, I came out at three
So now I guess tomorrow morning
Warden reads some kind of paper
How I'm gonna pay the state for what I've done
Hey, then they'll put the shackles on me
And we'll take a little walk
They won't have to drag me 'cos it's said and done
And maybe someday they can put me up a stone
All by itself, beneath the tree, beside the hill
And lovers everywhere can come and read along
These words that will give them a chill
and it'll say:

Here lies a young man...

Midnight in Montgomery, silver eagle, lonely road
I was on my way to Mobile, for a big New Year's Eve show
I stopped for just a minute, to see a friend outside of town
Put my collar up, I found his name, and felt the wind die down

And a drunk man in a cowboy hat took me by surprise
Wearing shiny boots, a Nudi suit, and haunting haunted eyes
He said friend it's good to see you, it's nice to know you care
Then the wind picked up and he was gone, was he ever really there

'Cause it's midnight in Montgomery, just hear that whippoorwill
See the stars light up the purple sky, feel that lonesome chill
'Cause when the wind is right, you'll hear his songs, smell whiskey in the air
Midnight in Montgomery, he's always singing there

Well I climbed back on that eagle, took one last look around
Through red tail lights, the shadow moved slow across the ground
And off somewhere a midnight train is slowly passing by
I could hear that whistle moan, I'm so lonesome I could cry

'Cause it's midnight in Montgomery, just hear that whippoorwill
And see the stars light up the purple sky, feel that lonesome chill
'Cause when the wind is right, you'll hear his songs, smell whiskey in the air
Midnight in Montgomery, he's always singing there
He's always singing there, Hank's always singing there

He was on his way home from Candletop.
(He'd)Been two weeks gone and he thought he'd stop
At Webb's and have him a drink 'fore he went home to her.
Andy Wardlow said, "Hello."
And he said "Hi, what's doin', Wo?"
He said, "Sit down, I got some bad news that's gonna hurt."
He said, "I'm your best friend and you know that's right,
But your young bride ain't home tonight.
Since you been gone she's been seein' that aimless boy, Seth."
Well, he got mad 'n' he saw red.
And Andy said, "Boy, don'tcha lose your head,
'Cause to tell ya the truth, I been with her myself."

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia.
That's the night that they hung an innocent man.
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer
'Cause the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands.

Well, Andy got scared and left the bar
(And went) Walkin' on home 'cause he didn't live far.
(You) See, Andy didn't have many friends and he'd just lost him one.
(And) Brother thought his wife must'a left town,
So he went home and finally found
The only thing Papa had left him, and that was a gun.
And he went off to Andy's house,
Slippin' through the backwoods quiet as a mouse--
Came upon some tracks too small for Andy to make.
He looked through the screen at the back-porch door,
And he saw Andy lyin' on the floor
In a puddle of blood. And he started to shake.

Well, the Georgia Patrol was a'makin' their rounds,
So he fired a shot just to flag 'em down,
And a big-bellied sheriff grabbed his gun and said, "Why'd ya do it?"
And the judge said, "Guilty," in a make-believe trial,
Slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile,
And said, "Supper's waitin' at home and I gotta get to it."

Well, they hung my brother before I could say
That the tracks he saw while on his way
To Andy's house, out back, that night were mine.
And his cheatin' wife had never left town;
And that's one body that'll never be found!
See, little sister don't miss when she aims her gun.

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia.
Oh-oh-aah
That's the night that they hung an innocent man.
Ah-huh-unh
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer

'Cause the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands.

Ira Hayes,
Ira Hayes

[CHORUS:]
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Gather round me people there's a story I would tell
About a brave young Indian you should remember well
From the land of the Pima Indian
A proud and noble band
Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land

Down the ditches for a thousand years
The water grew Ira's peoples' crops
'Till the white man stole the water rights
And the sparklin' water stopped

Now Ira's folks were hungry
And their land grew crops of weeds
When war came, Ira volunteered
And forgot the white man's greed

[CHORUS:]
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

There they battled up Iwo Jima's hill,
Two hundred and fifty men
But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down again

And when the fight was over
And when Old Glory raised
Among the men who held it high
Was the Indian, Ira Hayes

[CHORUS:]
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Ira returned a hero
Celebrated through the land
He was wined and speeched and honored; Everybody shook his hand

But he was just a Pima Indian
No water, no crops, no chance
At home nobody cared what Ira'd done
And when did the Indians dance

[CHORUS:]
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Then Ira started drinkin' hard;
Jail was often his home
They'd let him raise the flag and lower it
like you'd throw a dog a bone!

He died drunk one mornin'
Alone in the land he fought to save
Two inches of water in a lonely ditch
Was a grave for Ira Hayes

[CHORUS:]
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes
But his land is just as dry
And his ghost is lyin' thirsty
In the ditch where Ira died

It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton, and my brother was balin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And mama hollered out the back door, "y'all, remember to wipe your feet!"
And then she said, "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge
Today, Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

And papa said to mama, as he passed around the blackeyed peas
"Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense; pass the biscuits, please
There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow"
And mama said it was shame about Billie Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

And brother said he recollected when he, and Tom, and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn't I talking to him after church last Sunday night?
"I'll have another piece-a apple pie; you know, it don't seem right
I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge
And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

And mama said to me, "Child, what's happened to your appetite?
I've been cookin' all morning, and you haven't touched a single bite
That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today
Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way
He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge
And she and Billie Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"


A year has come and gone since we heard the news 'bout Billie Joe
And brother married Becky Thompson; they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going 'round; papa caught it, and he died last spring
And now mama doesn't seem to want to do much of anything
And me - I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge

Everyone considered him
The coward of the county.
He'd never stood one single time
To prove the county wrong.
His mama named him Tommy,
But folks just called him Yellow.
Something always told me
They were reading Tommy wrong.

He was only ten years old
When his daddy died in prison.
I looked after Tommy
'Cause he was my brother's son.
I still recall the final words
My brother said to Tommy,
"Son, my life is over,
But yours has just begun.

Promise me, son,
Not to do the things I've done.
Walk away from trouble if you can.
It won't mean you're weak
If you turn the other cheek.
I hope you're old enough to understand:
Son, you don't have to fight to be a man."

There's someone for everyone,
And Tommy's love was Becky.
In her arms he didn't have to prove he was a man.
One day while he was working
The Gatlin boys came calling.
They took turns at Becky.
There was three of them.

Tommy opened up the door
And saw his Becky crying.
The torn dress, the shattered look
Was more than he could stand.
He reached above the fireplace
And took down his daddy's picture.
As his tears fell on his daddy's face
He heard these words again,

"Promise me, son,
Not to do the things I've done.
Walk away from trouble if you can.
Now it won't mean you're weak
If you turn the other cheek.
I hope you're old enough to understand:
Son, you don't have to fight to be a man."

The Gatlin boys just laughed at him
When he walked into the bar room.
One of them got up
And met him half way 'cross the floor.
When Tommy turned around they said,
"Hey, look, old Yellow's leaving."
But you could've heard a pin drop
When Tommy stopped and locked the door.

Twenty years of crawling
Was bottled up inside him.
He wasn't holding nothing back,
He let 'em have it all.
When Tommy left the bar room
Not a Gatlin boy was standing.
He said, "This one's for Becky,"
As he watched the last one fall.
N' I heard him say,

"I promised you, Dad,
Not to do the things you've done.
I walk away from trouble when I can.
Now please don't think I'm weak.
I didn't turn the other cheek.
And, Papa, I sure hope you understand:
Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man."

Everyone considered him
The coward of the county.

The devil went down to georgia,
He was looking for a soul to steal
He was in a bind, 'cause he was way behind,
So he was willing to make a deal
When he come across this young man
Sawing on a fiddle and playing it hot
And the devil jumps up on a hickory stump

And said,"boy let me tell you what:
I guess you didn't know it,
But I'm a fiddle player too
And if you'd care to take a dare,
I'll make a bet with you
Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy,
But give the devil his due
I'll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul'
Cause I think I'm better than you"

The boy said:
"My name's johnny and it might be a sin,
But I'll take your bet, you're gonna regret
'Cause I'm the best that's ever been"
Johnny, rosin up your bow
And play your fiddle hard,
'Cause hell's broke loose in georgia
And the devil deals the cards
And if you win you'll get
This shiny fiddle made of gold,
But if you lose, the devil gets your soul!

The devil opened up his case and said,
"I'll start this show"
And fire flew from his fingertips
As he rosined up his bow
And he pulled the bow across
The strings and it made an evil hiss
Then a band of demons joined in and it
Sounded something like this

When the devil finished,
Johnny said: "Well you're pretty good old son
But sit down in that chair right there,
And let me show you how it's done"
(Fire on the mountain! Run, boys, run!
The devil's in the house of the rising sun
The chicken in the bread pan picking out dough
Granny does your dog bite? No, child, no)

Devil bowed his head because
He knew that he'd been beat
And he laid that golden fiddle
On the ground at johnny's feet

Johnny said:
"Devil, just c'mon back
If you ever wanna try again
'Cause I told you once, you son of a gun,
I'm the best that's ever been!"
(Fire on the mountain! Run, boys, run!
Devil's in the house of the rising sun
Chicken in the bread pan picking out dough,
Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, no)