big  iron  -  marty  robbins

  to  the  town  of  agua  fria

  rode  a  stranger  one  fine  day

    hardly  spoke  to  folks  around  him,

    didn't  have  too  much  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,

    big  iron  on  his  hip

    it  was  early  in  the  morning

    when  he  rode  into  the  town

    he  came  riding  from  the  south  side,

  slowly  lookin'  all  around

    "he's  an  outlaw  loose  and  runnin'",

  came  a  whisper  from  each  lip

    "and  he's  here  to  do  some  business

  with  a  big  iron  on  his  hip,

    big  iron  on  his  hip"

    in  this  town  there  lived  an  outlaw

  by  the  name  of  texas  red

    many  men  had  tried  to  take  him

  and  that  many  men  were  dead

    he  was  vicious  and  a  killer,

  though  a  youth  of  twenty  four

  and  the  notches  on  his  pistol  numbered

  one  and  nineteen  more,

    one  and  nineteen  more

    now  the  stranger  started  talkin'

  made  it  plain  to  folks  around

    was  an  arizonia  ranger,

    wouldn't  be  too  long  in  town

    he  was  here  to  take  an  outlaw

  back  alive  or  maybe  dead

    and  he  said  it  didn't  matter

  that  he  was  after  texas  red,

    after  texas  red

    wasn't  long  before  this  story

  was  relayed  to  texas  red

    but  the  outlaw  didn't  worry,

  men  who  tried  before  were  dead

    twenty  men  had  tried  to  take  him,

  twenty  men  had  made  a  slip,

  twenty  one  would  be  the  ranger

  with  the  big  iron  on  his  hip,

    big  iron  on  his  hip

    now  the  morning  past  so  quickly

  and  it  was  time  for  them  to  meet

    it  was  twenty  past  eleven

  when  they  rode  out  in  the  street

    folks  were  watchin'  from  their  windows,

  every  body  held  their  breath,

    they  knew  this  handsome  ranger

  was  about  to  meet  his  death,

    about  to  meet  his  death

    there  was  twenty  feet  between  them

  when  they  stopped  to  make  their  play

    and  the  swiftness  of  the  ranger

  still  talked  about  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,

    big  iron  on  his  hip

    it  was  over  in  a  moment

  and  the  crowd  all  gathered  'round

    there  before  them  lay

  the  body  of  the  outlaw  on  the  ground

    oh,  he  might  have  went  on  livin'

  but  he  made  one  fatal  slip

    when  he  tried  to  match  the

  ranger  with  the  big  iron  on  his  hip,

    big  iron  on  his  hip

    big  iron,  big  iron,

    oh  he  tried  to  match  the  ranger

  with  the  big  iron  on  his  hip,

    big  iron  on  his  hip