Badlands
The sheriff was a lucky man
Or at least he’d been so far
It was the only way he’d lived so long
In a badlands town like ours
He came here from a better place
Out east beyond the range
He had a good and godly soul
But one night that all changed
Back then, Old Nick was robbing banks
All up and down the line
His desperadoes hadn’t found us yet
But it was just a matter of time
So when a band of men on coal-black horses
Came to town
The sheriff and his posse sprung a trap
And circled ‘em ‘round
“Now, we don’t want any trouble Nick,”
The goodly sheriff said
“If you turn around and leave right now, I won’t have to shoot you dead”
Old Nick laughed when we drew our guns
his men didn’t even flinch
His big dog let out a mournful howl
And it sounded something like this
(C, ad lib)
Their eyes locked ‘cross the dusty square
Yellow on bright blue
My pistol grip was slick with sweat
So my aim wasn’t quite true
Still, I’m sure before all hell broke loose
I put a round or two in Nick
Then the horses’s hooves stirred up the dirt
And the haze became too thick
I fired off a few more shots
Before an eerie silence fell
And I thought I saw two glowing eyes
Like two candles lit in hell
When the dust finally settled down
I couldn’t believe my eyes
Old Nick and all his men stood there
Unhurt and still alive
The posse all lay on the ground with
holes shot through their chests
Except the sheriff with his silver star
still shining on his vest
When Old Nick saw him standing there,
He gave an evil hiss
He said “Follow me, if you dare,
and we’ll put an end to this!”
Nick led his men back down the street
And then back out of town
The sheriff and I mounted up
So we could ride ‘em down
We chased ‘em ‘cross the darkening plains
Into the setting sun
I rode behind the shining star
One bullet in my gun
When the desperadoes rode up on a train
We followed suit
The sheriff was determined to end
He and Nick’s dispute
In the last dregs of the dying light
We climbed aboard the train
Its sides were black, its boiler steamed,
Its lonely whistle sang
(C)
We stepped inside of the caboose
And I saw Nick up ahead
Grinning back at both of us
Surrounded by the dead
He beckoned for us to follow
As he pressed on through the train
And we passed out of the world of men
Into the world of Cain
On that ghost train I saw devils
Of every shape and size
Some were playing faro,
and some were playing dice
There were skeletons in Stetsons
And decomposed ranch hands
All dancing to the ghoulish song
Of a dead mariachi band
(Instrumental)
As we traveled on I noticed
The sheriff’s star began to dim
It was harder to see through the dark
Separating me and him
Then all at once he disappeared
Behind a door of flame
It was then that I began to see
The truth of Old Nick’s game
From behind the door I heard a shot
And then a human scream
Then everything slowed down
Like I was stuck inside a dream
I busted through the door to find
The silver star was gone
There were now two pairs of yellow eyes
Where there had once been one
I lost all hope when I saw the thing
That used to be a man
And as I looked into its yellow eyes
I began to understand
If I wanted to escape Old Nick
And set my own soul free
I only had one chance left
My last bullet was for me
Now some folks say the sheriff
And Nick shot each other down
Others say he took his silver star
To a better town
But he’s just another lost soul
Serving on the devil’s train
And sometimes I still hear its whistle
Howling across the range
(C)
So that’s the story of a good and godly man
And how he fell
Lost his silver star and ended up
On the 3:10 out of hell
So if you ever think you’re proof against
Old Nick and all his friends
Remember how our lucky sheriff
Met his evil end