Big Iron

Big Iron - Marty Robbins

To the town of Agua Fria

Rode a stranger one fine day

Hardly spoke to folks around him

Didn't have too much to say

No one dared to ask his business

No one dared to make a slip

For the stranger there among them

Had a big iron on his hip

Big iron on his hip

It was early in the morning

When he rode into the town

He came riding from the south side

Slowly looking all around

He's an outlaw loose and running

Came the whisper from each lip

And he's here to do some business

With the big iron on his hip

Big iron on his hip

In this town there lived an outlaw

By the name of Texas Red

Many men had tried to take him

And that many men were dead

He was vicious and a killer

Though a youth of twenty four

And the notches on his pistol

Numbered one and nineteen more

One and nineteen more

Now the stranger started talking

Made it plain to folks around

He was an Arizona ranger

Wouldn't be too long in town

He came here to take an outlaw

Back alive or maybe dead

And he said it didn't matter

He was after Texas Red

After Texas Red

Wasn't long before the story

Was relayed to Texas Red

But the outlaw didn't worry

Men that tried before were dead

Twenty men had tried to take him

Twenty men had made a slip

Twenty-one would be the ranger

With the big iron on his hip

Big iron on his hip

The morning passed so quickly

It was time for them to meet

It was twenty past eleven

When they walked out in the street

Folks were watching from the windows

Everybody held their breath

They knew this handsome ranger

Was about to meet his death

About to meet his death

There was forty feet between them

When they stopped to make their play

And the swiftness of the ranger

Is still talked about today

Texas Red had not cleared leather

'Fore a bullet fairly ripped

And the ranger's aim was deadly

With the big iron on his hip

Big iron on his hip

It was over in a moment

And the folks had gathered round

There before them lay the body

Of the outlaw on the ground

Oh he might have went on living

But he made one fatal slip

When he tried to match the ranger

With the big iron on his hip

Big iron on his hip

Big iron big iron

When he tried to match the ranger

With the big iron on his hip

Big iron on his hip