Ride this train to any little trail in the West you may find me riding alone late at night 

My poor old horse don't understand why I ride at night and sleep in the daytime 

Or why we ride in the bushes and hide every time I hear a noise 

Well that's all I've done for months now running and hiding 

You see my name is John Wesley Hardin no I'm not proud of the name anymore 

They say I've killed forty men they tell a lot of different stories about me 

Of course I guess I'm to blame for a lot of it 

I killed the first time when I was fifteen to save my life but then I had to do it again 

Then every bum in the country that was fast with the gun started lookin' for me 

They called me the fastest gun alive and I guess I was fast or I wouldn't be alive now 

I got to where I couldn't walk down a street or in a saloon 

Without some trigger-happy cowpoke 

Wantin' to prove he could outdraw old John Wesley Hardin 

Maybe I got a little bitter and didn't care whether I killed or not for a while 

And I never quite forgot when the authorities in Huntsville prison 

Dragged me up in the snow naked and horsewhipped me 

Well that's why I'm ridin' at night I want to go where no one has ever seen me 

Where I won't even have to wear a gun 

Maybe I'll settle down in a quiet little town somewhere 

Even get a job on the right side of the law who knows 

Maybe in a new town the people will let me forget