Cass McCombs - The Great Pixley Train Robbery lyrics

To your hands I give you aboard from Hawaii
The ship they call Northern Lights
A fugitive, one of three highway man
Who stopped the Pixley train at night
About 8 PM, 22 February
We force seven thousand in gold
Two were killed in the melee
A fireman of the train
And a passenger from Modesto
The leader was an insurance agent
This I know the third man set for remote
Islands near the equator

When he found the ship
Would not put in there
There's a reason to believe he
Set her on fire when our bomb exploded
Buckshot unloaded we three made off in dire
To the Right Honorable american council
To the Hawaiian king i swear before notary
To make a clean breast of the whole thing
In hope of salvation
For surely I'll be found before port
Before postal authorities can act
I surrender myself unto the reward

Since I was taken from the Napa asylum
And put on a whaler for my own good
I told the captain not to let me ashore
Except under guard if no faith is placed
In this letter you're letting a brigand free
The passenger coaches were not molested
Violence, I can't see