THE BALLAD OF BILLY THE KID song lyrics by Joel Sattler

They say nobody really won
the Lincoln County War
most folks don't even seem to know
just what we fought it for

Sometimes the law takes the wrong side
sometimes it isn't right
but when the rifles point at you
you got to stand and fight

working in New Mexico
for my board and bread
till they shot my bestest friend
Mr. John Tunstall dead

I went to the funeral
like I spose to do
swore I'd kill every son of b*tch
if twas the last thing that I do

I gunned down the Deputy
who did the dirty deed
and the County Sheriff
Mr. William Brady

Running from the law
and stealing cattle by the rail
though they promised amnesty
they threw me in the jail

but I've escaped from every trap
my enemies have set
I would still be on the run
and I'd be riding yet

I broke free and killed the guards
who looked at me with hate
but no man not even me
can avoid his awful fate

Pat Garrett was my friend
until the bounty they did post
had to leave my town behind
and the girl I loved the most

The men I've killed in my short life
have numbered 21
one for every year I've lived
not proud of what I done

Some call me Hank McCarty
Henry Antrim God forbid
but I am better known to folks
as Billy the Kid

Then one night my ex-friend Pat
came on me in the dark
I couldn't see just who it was
when he shot me in the heart

if there is a lesson here
if there is a tale
when a price is on your head
your life is gonna fail

maybe what I did was wrong
but if you can hear my voice
I swear to God and all that's true
I really had no choice

Some call me Hank McCarty
Henry Antrim God forbid
but I'm better known to folks
as Billy the Kid


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