Chase Jedick's Songs

The Last Stand of James-Jesse the Outlaw
Album: "The Bitter and the Unbelievable"
© 2004 Chase Andrew Jedick

Lyrics:

Yes, James-Jessie was a hard-eyed man
With strong arms and a fitting mud tan.
And all that he knew and all that he had done,
He did it all to purpose, not just for the fun.
They needed the money; well that’s what he said.
I wonder what his brother needed in another man’s bed?

It was a hot June day, when he rode into town.
You knew he’d been drinkin’ ‘cause his hat brim was down.
He rode in alone, and that’s how he’d leave.
He wouldn’t stay to watch ‘em cry or see ‘em grieve.
He’d come to get only that which he was owed—
All the bank could offer, every ounce of gold!

A bead a sweat fell from his bald head.
He knew perhaps just minutes that he might be dead.
Well the teller had heard James-Jessie was a-comin’.
But he wasn’t in the mood to take off a-runnin’.
Last [last night] night [he caught his wife] he caught his wife in bed with a rough-looking guy.
He left [James left] for work [for the bank], the next morning with a gun and a sigh.

James-Jessie dismounted, kicking up dust.
Today, for James-Jessie, it was riches or bust.
His brother had left him just the night before.
He’d run off with the teller’s wife, the town whore.
James-Jessie laughed a little as he stomped into the room.
The teller kept sweating, sensing bullets, sensing doom.

The teller studied the bandit’s cold, hard eyes.
And just for one minute didn’t want to die.
So he emptied the safe, just like the bandit said.
And as James left, the teller recognized his head.
James-Jessie looked very much like his wife’s most recent lover.
The very same man he’d caught underneath the covers.

The teller had packed a gun, but it wasn’t meant for James.
He was going to end himself to forget about her games.
But he followed James-Jessie out into the street.
He pulled his gun but was struck by the heat.
James-Jessie filled the teller with a pound of lead.
It wasn’t two seconds ‘fore the teller dropped dead.

He had mud on his face from the dust it kicked up.
He’d thrown down his gun and given killin’ up.
Maybe it took seven seconds before he realized that he’d too been hit.
Well dying [death] is something [really something] a man don’t ever forget!
James-Jessie fell right next to the man he’d killed
And died slowly in the very blood he’d spilled.