G Everyone in Nacodoches G D Knew Tom Ames would come to a bad end Em ʼCause the sheriff caught him C G D G Stealinʼ chickens and such by the time he was ten One day his Daddy took a ten dollar bill And tucked it in his hand He said I know youʼre headed for trouble son Your Momma wouldnʼt understand So he took his Dadʼs money and his brotherʼs old bay He left without a word of thanks He fell in with this crowd in some border town And he took to robbing banks Outside the law his luck a- run out fast A few years came and went ʼTil heʼs trapped in an alley in Abilene With all but four shells spent And he realized prayinʼ was the only thing That he hadnʼt ever tried Well he wasnʼt sure he quite knew how But he looked up to the sky He said you donʼt owe me nothinʼ and as far as I know Lord I donʼt owe nothinʼ to you I ainʼt askinʼ for a miricle Lord Just a little bit of luck will do You know I ainʼt never prayed before ʼCause it always seemed to me That prayinʼs the same as begginʼ Lord I donʼt take no charity but right now Lord with my back to the wall I canʼt help but recall How they nearly hung me for stealinʼ a horse In Fort Smith, Arkansas Judge Parker said guilty and the gavel came down Just like a cannon shot I went away quietly I began to file a plot They sent the preacher down to my cell He said the Lordʼs your only hope Heʼs the only friend youʼre gonna have son When you hit the end of Parkerʼs rope And I guess he could have kept preachinʼ till Christmas but he turned his back on me I put a homemade blade to that golden throat Asked the deputy for the key It ainʼt the first trouble Iʼve seen before As you already know Iʼve had some help from you Lord and the Devil himselfʼs been strictly touch and go Yeah but who in the hell am I talkinʼ to There ainʼt no one here but me So he cocked both his pistols and he spit in the dirt And he walked out into that street
