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.