I killed my first man, with a blow of my hand,
And it left me with ten years in prison.
when I made my escape, after twelve months of rape
It was too late for getting of wisdom.
Whether banker or train, hell, I used them for gain,
It was all there just for the takin’.
But it’s too late to stop, when you’re set for ‘the drop’
Buddy, you know the law isn’t fakin’.

CHORUS
Yippee ti yi yo get along little doggies,
Can you give me one reason to stay?
As a man out of luck, this is one little buck
That is gettin’ right out of the way.
I'm a man out of time, that’s been living on crime,
And It’s just about come to the end,
I’ve got nothing to show, and I know when I go,
There ain’t one here that I can call ‘friend’.

It’s an old cowboy’s lot, waitin’ for the last shot,
In the hot sun or cold winter rainin’.
I will fight if I must, like I eat saddle dust,
You know, there’s little point in complainin’.
You set your own sail, when you choose the lone trail,
It’s a life full of cheatin’ and lyin’.
I’ve been dealin’ in blows; I guess God only knows
If He’s listening now to my dyin’.

I was facin’ the sun, when I went for my guns,
I was going out barrels a-blazin’.
When I fell in the street, there was blood at my feet,
And I lay there and said, It’s amazin’.
For too many years I have shadowed my fears,
I have never stopped once to confront them.
And now here I lay and they’re fading away,
And I wonder why I never dumped them.