Sam

[Verso 1]
 
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Sam Bass was born in Indiana, it was his native home 
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And at the age ofseventeen,Sam began toroam 
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He first came out to Texasa cowboy for to be 
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A kinder-hearted fellow you seldom ever see 
 


[Verso 2]
 
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Sam used to deal in race stock, once owned the Denton mare; 
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He matched her in scrub races and took her to the fair 
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Sam used to coin the money and spent it just as free 
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He always drank good whiskey wherever he might be 
 


[Verso 3]
 
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Sam left the Collins ranch in the merry month of May 
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With a herd of Texas cattle the Black Hills for to see 
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Sold out in Custer City and then got on a spree- 
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A harder set of cowboys you seldom ever see 
 


[Verso 4]
 
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On their way back to Texas they robbed the U.P. train 
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And then split up in couples and started out again 
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Joe Collins and his partner were overtaken soon 
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With all their hard-earned money they had to meet their doom 
 


[Verso 5]
 
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Sam had four companions-four bold and daring lads- 
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They were Richardson, Jackson, Joe Collins, and Old Dad; 
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Four more bold and daring cowboys the rangers never knew 
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They whipped the Texas Rangers and ran the boys in blue 
 


[Verso 6]
 
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Jim Murphy was arrested and then released on bail 
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He jumped his bond at Tyler and then took the train for Terrell; 
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But Mayor Jones had posted Jim and that was all a stall 
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'Twas only a plan to capture Sam before the coming fall 
 


[Verso 7]
 
    C                           G               C 
Sam met his fate at Round Rock, July the twenty-first 
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They pierced poor Sam with rifle balls and emptied out his purse 
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Poor Sam he is a corpse and six foot under clay 
    C                       G              C 
And Jackson's in the bushes trying to get away 
 


[Verso 8]
 
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Jim had borrowed Sam's good gold and didn't want to pay 
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The only shot he saw was to give poor Sam away 
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He sold out Sam and Barnes and left their friends to mourn 
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Oh, what a scorching Jim will get when Gabriel blows his horn 
 


[Verso 9]
 
    C                                 G                     C 
And so he sold out Sam and Barnes and left their friends to mourn 
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Oh, what a scorching Jim will get when Gabriel blows his horn 
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Perhaps he's got to heaven, there's none of us can say 
    C                               G              C 
But if I'm right in my surmise he's gone the other way