[Verse 1]
Those other years, the dusty years, we drove the big hearse through
I tried to forget the miles we rode and Spanish Johnny too
He'd sit beside a water ditch when all his herd was in
And he'd never harm a child, but sing to his mandolin

[Verse 2]
The old talk, the old ways, and the dealing of our game
But Spanish Johnny never spoke, but sang a song of Spain
And his talk with men was vicious talk when he was drunk on gin
Ah, but those were golden things he said to his mandolin

[Guitar and Mandolin Solos]

[Verse 3]
Well, we had to stand, we tried to judge, we had to stop him then
For the hand so gentle to a child had killed so many men
He died a hard death long ago before the roads come in
And the night before he swung, he sung to his mandolin

[Verse 4]
Well, we carried him out in the morning sun, a man that done no good
And we lowered him down in the cold clay, stuck in a cross of wood
And a letter he wrote to his kinfolk to tell them where he'd been
And we shipped it out to Mexico along with his mandolin