A tall handsome stranger rode into town With fire in his eyes burning red as sundown His boots were all dusty, his coat open wide Six ways of dying hung low on his side
He went in the town hall asking for me They told him that I was still town deputy I sent him to prison to pay for his crime He killed a guard on the Sante Fe line
He spread word around town that my time had come My notch was already carved on his gun He's laughing and braggin and having his fun It's all a show for he knows I won't run
That night in silence the town was asleep I sat by my window and looked down the street I wished in my heart that he would just ride away I hated to face him next sunup that day
I met him at sunup, the crowd gathered round Waitin and watching for one to go down He grabbed for his six gun, tryin his best He cursed as my bullet went deep in his chest
He stood there a moment and looked all around Slowly and lifeless he fell to the ground The stranger's my brother, born an outlaw He must have forgotton I taught him to draw
The whole town was waiting and I was alone The blood that I spilled was just like my own When she hears this story, how Mother will cry Brother 'gainst brother and one had to die