Don't Take Your Guns to Town

A young cowboy named Billy Joe grew restless on the farm
A boy filled with wander lust who really meant no harm
He changed his clothes and cleaned his boots and combed his dark brown hair
His mother cried as he walked out:

Don't take your guns to town, son
Leave your guns at home, Bill



Don't take your guns to town

He laughed and kissed his mom and said your Billy Joe's a man
I can shoot as quick and straight as anybody can
But I wouldn't shoot without a cause, I'd gun nobody down
But she cried again as he rode away

He sang a song, as on he rode, his guns hung at his hips
He rode into a cattle town, a smile upon his lips
He stopped and walked into a bar and laid his money down

But his mothers words echoed again:

He drank his first strong liquor then to calm his shaking hand
And tried to tell himself at last he had become a man
A dusty cowpoke at his side began to laugh him down
And he heard again his mother's words

Bill was raged and Billy Joe reached for his guns to draw
But the stranger drew his gun and fired before he even saw
As Billy Joe fell to the floor, the crowd all gathered 'round

And wondered at his final words