LyricMeaning

The Last Gunfighter Ballad
Guy Clark

The old gunfighter on the porch
stared into the sun
and relived the days of living by the gun
when deadly games of pride were played
and living was mistakes not made

and the thought of the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke
Ah, the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke

It's always keep your back to the sun
and he can almost feel the weight of the gun
it's faster than snakes or the blink of an eye
and it's a time for all slow men to die
and his eyes get squinty and his fingers twitch
and he empties the gun at the son of a bitch

and he's hit by the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke
hit by the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke

Now the burn of a bullet is only a scar
he's back in his chair in front of the bar
and the streets are empty and the blood's all dried
and the dead are dust and the whiskey's inside
so buy him a drink and lend him an ear
he's nobody's fool and the only one here

who remembers the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke
remember the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke

He said I stood in that street before it was paved
learned shoot or be shot before I could shave
and I did it all for the money and fame
noble was nothing but feeling no shame
and nothing was sacred but stayin' alive
and all that I learned from a Colt 45

was to curse the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke
curse the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke

Now he's just an old man that no one believes
says he's a gunfighter, the last of the breed
and there are ghosts in the street seeking revenge
calling him out to the lunatic fringe
now he's out in the traffic checking the sun
and he's killed by a car as he goes for his gun

So much for the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke
so much for the smell of the black powder smoke
and the stand in the street at the turn of a joke


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Lyrics by Guy Clark

  A Little of Both   A Little of Both [Live]   A Nickel For The Fiddler   A Song For   Ain't No Trouble to Me   All She Wants Is You   All Through Throwin' Good Love After Bad   Almost Home   Analog Girl   Anyhow I Love You   Anyhow, I Love You   Arizona Star   Baby Took a Limo to Memphis   Bag of Bones   Baton Rouge   Be Gone Forever   Better Days   Better Days [DVD]   Black Diamond Strings   Black Haired Boy   Blowin' Like A Bandit   Boats to Build   Broken Hearted People   Bunkhouse Blues   Cape   Carpenter   Cinco de Mayo in Memphis   Coat From The Cold   Cold Dog Soup   Come from the Heart   Comfort And Crazy   Copperhead Road   Cornmeal Waltz   Crystelle   Desperadoes Waiting For A Train   Desperados Waiting for a Train   Desperados Waiting for a Train [DVD]   Desperados Waiting for a Train [Live]   Desperados Waiting For The Train   Diamond Joe   Die Tryin'   Doctor Good Doctor   Don't Let The Sunshine Fool   Don't Let the Sunshine Fool You   Don't You Take It Too Bad   Dublin Blues   Eamon   El Coyote   Exposé   Fool In The Mirror   Fool On The Roof Blues   Fools For Each Other   Forever, for Always, for Certain   Fort Worth Blues   Funny Bone   Good Advice   Good Hearted Woman   Good To Love You Lady   Hands   Hangin' Your Life on the Wall   Hank Williams Said It Best   Heartbroke   Heavy Metal   Hell Bent on a Heartache   Hemingway's Whiskey   Heroes   High Price of Inspiration   Hollywood   Homegrown Tomatoes   Homegrown Tomatoes [DVD]   Homeless   How'd You Get This Number   I Don't Love You Much Do I   If I Needed You   Immigrant Eyes   In The Jailhouse Now   Indian Cowboy   Indian Head Penny   Instant Coffee Blues   It's About Time   Jack of All Trades   Katie Belle   L. A. Freeway   L.A. Freeway   Last Gunfighter Ballad   Let Him Roll   Let Him Roll (Live)   Like a Coat from the Cold   Little of Both   Madonna With Child Nineteen Sixty Nine   Magdalene   Magnolia Wind   Maybe I Can Paint Over That   Me I'm Feelin' The Same   Men Will Be Boys   Mercenary Song   Must Be My Baby   My Favorite Picture Of You   My Old Friend the Blues   New Cut Road   No Deal   No Lonesome Tune   Off the Map   Old Friends   One Paper Kid   One Way Ticket Down   Out In The Parkin' Lot   Out in the Parkin’ Lot   Out in the Parking Lot   Pancho and Lefty   Picasso's Mandolin   Rain In Durango   Ramblin' Jack and Mahan   Randall Knife [DVD]   Red River   Rita Ballou   Shade Of All Greens   She Ain't Goin' Nowhere   She Ain't Going Nowhere   She Loves to Ride Horses   She's Crazy for Leavin'   Shut up and Talk to Me   Sis Draper   Somdays You Write The Song   Somedays The Song Writes You   Somedays You Write the Song   South Coast of Texas   Stuff That Works   Supply & Demand   Supply And Demand   Tecumseh Valley   Texas 1947   Texas Cookin'   Texas, 1947   That Old Time Feelin'   That Old Time Feeling   The Ballad Of Laverne And Captain Flint   The Cape   The Carpenter   The Coat   The Dark   The Death Of Sis Draper   The Guitar   The High Price Of Inspiration   The Last Gunfighter Ballad [DVD]   The South Coast of Texas   The Waltzing Fool   To Live Is to Fly   To Live Is to Fly [DVD]   To Live's To Fly   Too Much   Tornado Time in Texas   Tryin' to Try   Uncertain Texas   Virginia's Real   Voila An American Dream   Walkin' Man   Water Under the Bridge   Watermelon Dream   Worry B Gone   Wrong Side of the Tracks

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