Marty Robbins - Pride And The Badge lyrics

All night long I tried to sleep
But sleep refused to come
Cause today I knew I'd either
Have to fight or run
Knowin' if I choose to run
My mind would never rest
Cause with so much pride I wear
This badge upon my vest

Folks are filled with fear because there's
Three bad guns in town
Sheriff Olsen made the wrong move
And they shot him down
One they called Dakota Jack and
One El Paso Red
The other just turned twenty and
He's called the Killer Kid

Good advice I get and that's
To leave and run away
But my pride and badge I wear
Won't let me live this way
And if I stay the three have bragged
They'll add me to their list
But I have a different aim and
I don't aim to miss

From the doorway where I stand
I see the outlaws three
Worried none because they know the
Town's not helpin' me
From a hundred yards away I try a lucky shot
Luck is with me and Dakota
Jack dies on the spot

Well a kid runs through the barroom door
And Red goes up the stairs
The Kid is ragin' mad
He's breakin' bottles, kickin' chairs
And from a roof El Paso Red
Has vowed to pay me back
As he views the lifeless body of Dakota Jack

I can see him as he jumps
From one roof to the next
Searchin' for me but he has
No idea where I'm at
But I watch his every move
I'm ready when he leaps
As I shoot him in mid air
He crashes to the street
Now there's one against just one
I've evened up the score
Down the street I hear a yell
Come through the barroom door
The Kid has screamed
There's no way I can live unless I run
Said there ain't no lawdog man
Enough to take his gun

Through the barroom door he walks and
Steps out on the street
I can't match his draw
He's much too fast for me to beat
And as I walk toward him
We both grab a forty-five
Maybe I will die today and he will stay alive

Like a hammer somethin' hit's
Me spinnin' me around
As I fall I shoot him twice
Before he hit's the ground
His bullet missed me
Still I feel a burnin' in my chest
His bullet hit's the badge I wear
With pride upon my vest

As the people view the bodies
Of the lifeless three
From their looks I know exactly
What they think of me
To them I'm just a killer and
They could not care less
'Bout my pride or 'bout the badge
I wear upon my vest