Beneath the Willow Tree

On the plains of Oklahoma
The year 1893
A young outlaw was outrunning fate on a stallion and the breeze
He'd been wanted for several months now
For robbing banks and graves
But he was just too sly he was just too quick, no one even knew his name
All the money he had stolen
He didn't keep for long
He sent it home to his love and he told her to hold on

Soon I'll be home beneath the willow tree where you first loved me
Soon I'll be home beneath the willow tree where you first loved me

Every week he sent her letters
He sent the money and his love
He said "Very soon we'll have enough. We can leave this place and run"
Maybe to Montana
Or the gorgeous coasts of Maine
Maybe Tennessee or Caroline but we're leaving all the same

Soon I'll be home beneath the willow tree where you first loved me
Soon I'll be home beneath the willow tree where you first loved me

He had sent his final letter
They finally had enough
He said "I'll be home June 19th, we can ride off with the sun"
But as he rode toward his homestead
He saw several several horses there
Then he saw three federal marshals. He was wanted alive or dead
The gunfire pierced the silence
The silence of the night
He fell off his horse into the dust and he gazed into the sky

There beneath the willow tree he lay a bleeding, drifting off to sleep
There beneath the willow tree is where he sleeps, six feet deep