Jesse and the padre try to keep things cool
Knowing exactly how to make stone into jewels
The judge was the kind of man who always talked fast
And the way things were going
His world wouldn't last

The desperado's make a plan
To set the town on fire
And when they try to make a stand
They were ambushed at the wire
The drifter never stays to fight
He keeps running till he's way out of sight
But it gets him nowhere
And the drifter never pays the price
He's running through the day and the night
But he's running to nowhere

The judge said boys don't you know this town is mine
Don't going try to change it everything will be just fine
Those desperadoes don't pay them no mind
Everybody knows that they can't read or write

The judge put Jesse in the jail
Although there is no crime
The padre tried to get him out
With a stick of dynamite
The drifter never stays to fight
He keeps running till he's way out of sight
But it gets him nowhere
And the drifter never pays a price
He's running through the day and the night
But he's running to nowhere
Oh no

The drifter knows he can't always go with the tide
The time will come when he'll have to choose up sides
Which way will he go will it be left or right
The judge says things are either black or white

The desperado's make a plan
To set the town on fire
And when they try to make a stand
They were ambushed at the wire
The drifter never stays to fight
He keeps running till he's way out of sight
But it gets him nowhere
And the drifter never pays the price
He's running through the day and the night
But he's running to nowhere