Marty Robbins - Pride And The Badge lyrics

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All night long I tried to sleep but sleep refused to come<br />

Cause today I knew I'd either have to fight or run<br />

Knowin' if I choose to run my mind would never rest<br />

Cause with so much pride I wear this badge upon my vest<br />

<br />

Folks are filled with fear because there's three bad guns in town<br />

Sheriff Olsen made the wrong move and they shot him down<br />

One they called Dakota Jack and one El Paso Red<br />

The other just turned twenty and he's called the Killer Kid<br />

<br />

Good advice I get and that's to leave and run away<br />

But my pride and badge I wear won't let me live this way<br />

And if I stay the three have bragged they'll add me to their list<br />

But I have a different aim and I don't aim to miss<br />

<br />

From the doorway where I stand I see the outlaws three<br />

Worried none because they know the town's not helpin' me<br />

From a hundred yards away I try a lucky shot<br />

Luck is with me and Dakota Jack dies on the spot<br />

<br />

Well a kid runs through the barroom door and Red goes up the stairs<br />

The Kid is ragin' mad, he's breakin' bottles, kickin' chairs<br />

And from a roof El Paso Red has vowed to pay me back<br />

As he views the lifeless body of Dakota Jack<br />

<br />

I can see him as he jumps from one roof to the next<br />

Searchin' for me but he has no idea where I'm at<br />

But I watch his every move I'm ready when he leaps<br />

As I shoot him in mid air he crashes to the street<br />

<br />

Now there's one against just one I've evened up the score<br />

Down the street I hear a yell come through the barroom door<br />

The Kid has screamed, there's no way I can live unless I run<br />

Said there ain't no lawdog man enough to take his gun<br />

<br />

Through the barroom door he walks and steps out on the street<br />

I can't match his draw, he's much too fast for me to beat<br />

And as I walk toward him we both grab a forty-five<br />

Maybe I will die today and he will stay alive<br />

<br />

Like a hammer somethin' hits me spinnin' me around<br />

As I fall I shoot him twice before he hits the ground<br />

His bullet missed me, still I feel a burnin' in my chest<br />

His bullet hits the badge I wear with pride upon my vest<br />

<br />

As the people view the bodies of the lifeless three<br />

From their looks I know exactly what they think of me<br />

To them I'm just a killer and they could not care less<br />

'Bout my pride or 'bout the badge I wear upon my vest