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Big Iron

by Steve Goodman

on The Easter Tapes (1996)

To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day
Hardly spoke to folks around him, didn't have a lot to say
No one dared to ask his business, no one dared to make a slip
The stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip
A big iron on his hip

It was early in the mornin' when he rode into the town
He was ridin' out of the south side slowly lookin' all around
He's an outlaw loose and runnin', that's the whisper on each lip
And he's here to do some business with the big iron on his hip
With the big iron on his hip

Pretty soon the stranger talked and made it plain to folks around
He was an Arizona Ranger and wouldn't be too long in town
He'd come here to take an outlaw back alive or maybe dead
And he said it didn't matter, he was after Texas Red
After Texas Red

In that town there lived an outlaw by the name of Texas Red
But the outlaw didn't worry, men that tried before were dead
Red was vicious and a killer though a youth of twenty four
(That was easy for me to say)
And the notches on his pistol numbered one and nineteen more
One and nineteen more

Well the morning passed so quickly and it was time for them to meet
It was twenty after eleven when they walked out in the street
Folks was watching out of their windows, and everybody held their breath
They knew that handsome Ranger was about to meet his death
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 spoken of 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
The big iron on his hip

When the dust had cleared the people gathered all around
There before them was the body of the outlaw on the ground
He could have gone on livin' but he made a fatal slip
He tried to stop an Arizona Ranger with a big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

Big iron Big iron
He tried to stop a Ranger with a big iron on his hip

Yippee I Yay,
Yippee I O.
Big Iron on his hip