Big Iron ---  Marty Robbins

 

To the [Em]town of Agua [G]Fria rode a stranger one fine [Em]day.
Hardly
[G]spoke to folks around him -- didn’t have too much to [Em]say.
No one
[C]dared to ask his business, no one [G]dared to make a slip
For the stranger there amongst them had a
[Em]Big Iron on his hip.
[C]
Big Iron on his [Em]hip.

  
Ait was
[Em]early in the [G]morning when he rode into the [Em]town.
He came
[G]riding from the South side, slowly looking all a-[Em]round.
“He’s an
[C]outlaw loose and running” came the [G]whisper from each lip,
And he’s here to do some business with the
[Em]Big Iron on his hip
[C]
Big Iron on his [G]hip.
 

In this [Em]town there lived an [G]outlaw by the name of Texas [Em]Red.
Many
[G]men had tried to take him and that many men were [Em]dead.
He was
[C]vicious and a killer, though a [G]youth of twenty-four.
And the notches on his pistol numbered
[Em]one and nineteen more.
[C]
One and nineteen [Em]more.
 

Now the [Em]stranger started [G]talking – made it plain to folks a-[Em]round,
Was an
[G]Arizona Ranger – wouldn’t be too long in [Em]town.
He came
[C]here to take an outlaw back a-[G]live or maybe dead
And he said it didn’t matter; he was
[Em]after Texas Red.
[C]
After Texas [Em]Red.
 

Wasn’t [Em]long before the story was re-[G]layed to Texas [Em]Red.
But the
[G]outlaw didn’t worry; men that tried before were [Em]dead.
Twenty
[C]men had tried to take him; twenty [G]men had made a slip.
Twenty-one would be the Ranger with the
[Em]Big Iron on his hip.
[C]
Big Iron on his [Em]hip.
 

The [Em]morning passed so quickly; it was [G]time for them to [Em]meet.
It was
[G]twenty past eleven when they walked out in the [Em]street.
Folks were
[C]watching from their windows; every-[G]body held their breath.
They knew this handsome Ranger was a-
[Em]bout to meet his death.
A-
[C]bout to meet his [Em]death.
 

There was [Em]forty feet between them when they [G]stopped to make their [Em]play,
And the
[G]swiftness of the Ranger is still talked about to-[Em]day.
Texas
[C]Red had not cleared leather when a [G]bullet fairly ripped.
And the Ranger’s aim was deadly with the
[Em]Big Iron on his hip.
[C]
Big Iron on his [Em]hip.
 

It was [Em]over in a moment and the [G]folks had gathered [Em] ‘round.
There be-
[G]fore them lay the body of the outlaw on the [Em]ground.
Oh, he
[C]might have gone on livin’ but he [G]made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger with the
[Em]Big Iron on his hip.

[C]Big Iron on his [Em]hip.

 

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