Well they're hangin' Joe Bean this mornin' for killin' a man in Arkansas Funny thing about it Joe Bean never has been to Arkansas to top that Joe Bean never heard of the man In fact today is Joe Bean's 20th birthday

See through the prison bars Joe Bean see where the gallows stand
Just twenty short years from the day you were born you'll die by the hangman's hand
They're hangin' Joe Bean this mornin' for a shootin' that he never did
He killed twenty men by the time he was ten he was an unruly kid

But they're hangin' Joe Bean for the one shootin' that Joe Bean never did

Well your mother's in capitol city asking Governor Simms for a stay And it's really hard on her cause she knows Where you were on that particular day

You were workin' Joe Bean hard workin' robbing the Santa Fe

Well the telegraph wires're hummin' hear the Governor's words come through
I can't set you free cause it's not up to me but this much Joe Bean I'll do
I'll join your mother in extending birthday greetings to you
Happy birthday Joe Bean