Vera flew the coop when she was only soft sixteen She hopped the first and fastest train with some lousy libertine He'd spun a pretty story and he'd stole away her youth And everyone was shocked 'cos Vera always told the truth Oh, her slip surprised them all 'cos Vera always told the truth
Vera dumped that lying lout in the dust behind the train He'd angled for a child but caught a heartless hurricane He wasn't worth a bullet, she just pushed him off the side And she thanked him for her freedom, she was eternally polite Vera thanked him for his trouble, she was nothing but polite
Vera ran with lawless men who trembled when she talked She never flinched, she never smiled, and her gun was always cocked At twenty-one she terrorized the whole of the frontier And they feared her faithful justice, they knew Vera was sincere Oh, they ran from Vera's posse 'cos she was perfectly sincere
Vera rode alone the whole of her ferocious life She'd never met a boy she didn't think deserved the knife Not a one of them was worthy in her steady steely eyes 'Cos they all fronted for their flaws and Vera always sneered at lies Yeah, she found all men were liars and Vera couldn't live with lies
It was not 'till Vera's dying days her hard heart met desire The man who shot her through was the only man she could admire That mortal wound awoke in her a fire no balm could soothe And she said "I think I love you" and Vera always told the truth Oh, as she died she said "I love you" and Vera always told the truth