[Verse 1]
I'm a man who's goin' to hell with heaven's blessin'
The judge said I'm not fit to live with men
They're buildin' me a gallows in the courtyard
To make sure I don't pass this way again

[Verse 2]
My first taste of killin' was at Vicksburg
I must have shot me a hundred men
I learned to make my livin' with a six-gun
I'm an outlaw now, but I was a hero then

[Chorus]
Lord, if I had only known the misery
That glory's somethin' not worth killin' for
I wish now I had never touched the handle
Of a hair-trigger Colt .44

[Verse 3]
I was a hunted desperado
A wanted man with a price on my head
I thought that I could steal a taste of freedom
I got me a hangman's noose instead

[Chorus]
Oh, Lord, if I had only known the misery
That glory's somethin' not worth killin' for
I wish now I had never touched the handle
Of a hair-trigger Colt .44
[Bridge]
Undertaker write on my tombstone
"A killer finally killed" and nothin' more
But I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for Providence
And that hair-trigger Colt .44

[Chorus]
Lord if I had only known the misery
That glory's somethin' not worth killin' for
I wish now I had never touched the handle
Of a hair-trigger Colt .44

[Chorus]
Lord if I had only known the misery
That glory's somethin' not worth killin' for
I wish now I had never touched the handle
Of a hair-trigger Colt .44