We came down from the mountain in the rain And our buckskins dried on the warm and the windy plain When our horses tired, we walked them on up the rise With our hat brims pulled down low all across our eyes
And the dusty town lay before us, and the setting sun Turned a bloody red on the barrels of my scattergun And your Henry rifle hung behind your saddle bowl And my hands were sweating funny and my blood ran cold
And we circled `round, put our backs to the sunset rays And we moved through town in the shadows and the alley ways And we hitched our horses `round behind the grocery store Then you hit the street and I covered from the grocery door
And the cards were down, in the barroom poker game But the playing stops when I hear you call the dealer's name And your shadow fell like a carpet to the barroom door And it crossed my mind that I never killed a man before
And the figure framed in the doorway made the call And your rifle flamed and he crumpled up against the wall Then you took it slow as you backed off down the street And I saw you throw a dollar at the dead man's feet
And we rode out for the mountains and the plains Not a word was spoke until we tasted the mountain rain And a man lay dead in the town we left behind And my Pappy said, "Son, I know you're not the killin' kind
But there comes a time when there's things that must be done And it's a dyin' crime when a gambler slays my eldest son" And an unarmed boy in a mountain grave is lain And his tears ran down and they mingled with the mountain rain