The Ballad Of Billy Joe McKee
"We've got him cornered now," says the sheriff to his posse.
"Ol' Billy Joe ain't gonna git away this time."
But ol' Billy Joe ain't done yet –
This is the West, where anything goes.
Billy Joe and his boys just rode into town not an hour ago,
Thought they'd rob the bank and make a quick getaway.
But Sheriff John Tibbet was on his toes,
By the time Billy rode into town, the sheriff's posse were rarin' to go.
Billy and some of the boys ran into the saloon,
The others ducked in to the hotel next door,
And now they've got their guns a blarin'
Sheriff Tibbet uses a six-gauge and already he's got one man down.
It should be told fair and true, that Billy was a crack shot, too.
He rode with a travelling show 'til he went bad.
A girl was involved, or so they say, somewhere in El Paso.
She was a singin' and dancin' girl with that show,
Her voice they say was as pure and as sweet as honey.
Billy Joe he fell in love with that girl and her voice,
And so, too, did another man, a wrangler of cattle,
Billy Joe got jealous, a lovers' quarrel did ensue –
Harsh words were spoken, shots were fired.
The girl and the wrangler lay dead, they were no more.
Billy fled El Paso and headed for Santa Fe,
While a Federal Marshall put out a warrant for Billy Joe's arrest.
He robbed a stagecoach for need of money and fled again,
Dodge City, Kansas his destination.
In this growing town of cowboys and gamblers and thieves,
Billy Joe did hide away, 'til the posters did appear.
WANTED, they said, and featured a drawing of ol' Billy Joe.
$200 the poster said was the reward for the capture of Billy Joe McKee.
Billy Joe rounded up a half dozen men, and off they rode,
The sheriff there was a might too slow,
To catch ol' Billy Joe.
Billy Joe had to decide where next to go.
Colorado Springs looked good to him,
He could hide in the mountains until things cooled down.
He robbed a bank and another stage,
He just couldn't keep quiet, could Billy Joe.
Billy Joe and his men arrived in the middle of winter's chill.
Billy Joe didn't like the cold, he wanted out.
Across the Rockies they rode, through harsh terrain,
Through cold streams and rocky canyons they went.
In Salt Lake City, they made a stop, Utah seemed to suit.
They hunkered low for a week or two, 'til the law came a knockin'.
The barkeep warned Billy Joe, and off he went in the dead of night.
Straight on they went, right through to Nevada.
In Virginia City, Billy Joe and his men did stop,
Billy Joe had his sights on San Francisco,
"That big city," he said, "will hide us well."
He couldn't know that he'd never make it out.
Back now we go where Sheriff Tibbet has him cornered –
Billy Joe hides to one side of the swinging saloon door,
He fires off three shots quick – two men down.
Tibbet shouts for passers-by to get out quick.
Tibbet fires his big six-gauge towards the doors.
He hears the satisfying sound of men as they hit the ground.
The men in the hotel are picked off one by one –
There's a man on the roof of the building across the way.
But Billy has his own man on the top floor of the saloon,
He puts a bullet in the sheriff's sharpshooter, his gun is silenced.
Billy seems to be in trouble now, so what can he do?
To the rooftops he flees, that's the plan.
There are horses down below, if he can get there.
He thinks he can jump on one and ride away.
The sheriff fires a few rounds but misses, as Billy Joe dodges his bullets.
There's the horse – a brown stallion, he'll be fast.
But as he jumps, another shooter appears, quiet 'till now,
His name is Cartwright - Ben, to be precise.
He owns land near here- the Ponderosa, along with three fine sons.
He fires his Colt just as Billy Joe makes the jump.
The horse runs and Billy Joe lands hard on the ground.
As Billy Joe begins to rise and grab his gun, Cartwright fires another.
Billy Joe is dead and the rest of his men surrender.
And that is how the ballad of Billy Joe ends.
Michael Stitt
Dec. 31, 2010 – Jan 2, 2011