Spanish Johnny

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Those other years, the dusty years, we drove the big hearse through I tried to forget the miles we rode and Spanish Johnny too He'd sit beside a water ditch when all his herd was in And he'd never harm a child, but sing to his mandolin [Verse 2] The old talk, the old ways, and the dealing of our game But Spanish Johnny never spoke, but sang a song of Spain And his talk with men was vicious talk when he was drunk on gin Ah, but those were golden things he said to his mandolin [Guitar and Mandolin Solos] [Verse 3] Well, we had to stand, we tried to judge, we had to stop him then For the hand so gentle to a child had killed so many men He died a hard death long ago before the roads come in And the night before he swung, he sung to his mandolin [Verse 4] Well, we carried him out in the morning sun, a man that done no good And we lowered him down in the cold clay, stuck in a cross of wood And a letter he wrote to his kinfolk to tell them where he'd been And we shipped it out to Mexico along with his mandolin