He sleeps out there, out where the coyotes wail
The reason he ain't at the bar with the boys
Makes quite a dismal tale...
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me
He oughtn't-a, shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, no, siree
You don't get many callers
Sleeping on the lone prairie
But he shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me.
All you boys remember Harry
The wrangler I was set to marry
A long man, strong man
One night he yells "I'm from Texas!"
And socks me in my solar plexus.
Well having normal, good reflexes,
I knocked him on his can!
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a blacked my eye.
I'm really a lovable, peaceable kind of guy.
I wouldn't scare a rabbit and I couldn't harm a flea,
But he shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me.
This here job is mighty trying,
Sometimes the room is fairly flying with
High balls, ***
One guy til somebody got'em
Tore up the joint from top to bottom
I think I was that one that shot him
As near as I recall.
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me.
He massacred eight or nine minutes, at Lazy Bee!
He then took on the sheriff, and the sheriff's deputy,
But he shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me.
If this story has a moral,
It's: When you're looking for a quarrel
or show down; slow down.
If by now, you haven't mastered
The gentle art of getting plastered,
You're just a Low-Down, you ain't mastered
The motto of our town!
You shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a start no fight
Our burying grounds are a most impressive sight!
The message on them tombstones is as simple as can be:
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me...
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me!