Well Nicholas rode out of Seattle
On a horse that he called Sugar Bee
He left his woman standing there
In the kerchief he would wear
To wipe away the tears and the blood and his pain

He said lady I don’t wanna leave
But the sheriff’s put a ransom on me
For a gun I did draw on a man in Issaquah
And I may be guilty but I will be free

And oh-oh-oh my darling
Why don’t you sing a melody oh
That’s sad and sweet

And Nicholas rode across the tundra
In a bounty fought tooth and nail
He robbed a train in Omaha
But the engineer did saw
His face on a paper
That read wanted on the wall

He stole a boat and crossed the Mississippi
Met a man there down in Tennessee
Oh and Tod was his name
And his pain was the same
They traded off the horses
And headed for the train
And the moonshine
Lord it was blinding
And some were living
Others were dying

And camped out somewhere in Montana
Oh Nicholas had a look upon his face
He said oh "damn the world
I miss her blue eyes and curls"

And Nicholas heard a word from a stranger
That his true love lie in Spokane
He said "I’m catching out
And if you’ve any doubt
We leave here tomorrow
Hellbound for the south"

And he said "no-oh-oh
You are the only man who knew me
And will die with me" oh

Well Nicholas walked out on Main St
And he found his darling’s loving eyes
With the sheriff in between
He said you’ll take two steps from me
And you’ll have one last chance in the world to be free
Well Nicholas counted one, two, and three
But the sheriff had a final decree
And the roof man gunned him down
On the cold winter ground
In his lover’s ears were his last dying sound

And oh-oh-oh my darling
Why don’t you sing
A melody
That’s sad and sweet

She said Nicholas rode out of Seattle
On a horse that he called Sugar Bee
He left his woman standing there
In the kerchief he would wear
To wipe away the tears and the blood and the pain