rode a stranger one fine day
Hardly spoke to folks around him
didn't have too much to say
No one dared to ask his business,
no one dared to make a slip
For the stranger there among them
had a big iron on his hip
It was early in the morning
when he rode into the town
He came riding from the south side
slowly lookin' all around
He's an outlaw loose and running,
came the whisper from each lip
And he's here to do some business
with the big iron on his hip
In this town there lived an outlaw
Many men had tried to take him
and that many men were dead
He was vicious and a killer
though a youth of twenty four
And the notches on his pistol
numbered one an nineteen more
Now the stranger started talking,
made it plain to folks around
He was an Arizona ranger,
wouldn't be too long in town
He came here to take an outlaw
And he said it didn't matter,
The morning passed so quickly
it was time for them to meet
It was twenty past eleven
when they walked out in the street
Folks were watching from their windows,
everybody held their breath
They knew this handsome ranger
was about to meet his death
Was about to meet his death
There was forty feet between them
when they stopped to make their play
And the swiftness of the ranger
is still talked about today
Texas Red had not cleared leather
when a bullet fairly ripped
And the ranger's aim was deadly
with the big iron on his hip
