Текст песни: The Ballad of Dirty Old Joe Brown + перевод

Now all of the people were gathered around down by the steeple in the

center of the town to witness the hanging of dirty old Joe Brown,

that preacher man who drank that whiskey shot his woman down;

the executioner — cowl on his head,

to hide-away an ancient face of restless nights in bed,

is summoned to the gallows to earn himself

some bread and hang his

beloved preacher man until he’s limp and dead;

the people cried and spit and whistled,

them hearts was black as coal;

the executioner wondered who now was gonna save his soul;

the mayor took his hat off, said this man has got to go

them people need an example, come on now feed him to the crows;

well he stepped to the lever

let me tell you what he done,

he reached inside his waistcoat and

pulled him out his gun, and he said,

«Don't you forget now just how the West was won» and he shot that

mayor in his head and he rode-off into the sun;

the moral of this story is he lived without

regret — when asked about that day, he’ll say, «My boy don’t you forget» then he’ll crack himself

a smile and he’ll light a cigarette, and he’ll say,

«I'm the fucking law,

my friend» and that’s as good as you’re gonna get

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