[Intro]
(Scatting)
The sounds of a gunshot jus' a cry
(Scatting)
The sounds of a gunshot jus' a cry

[Verse 1]
In an island called Jamaica
Rode a rankin' one fine day
Hardly spoke to folks around
Didn't have too much to say

[Chorus]
(Scatting)
The sounds of a gunshot jus' a cry
(Scatting)
The sounds of a gunshot jus' a cry

[Verse 2]
He came ridin' from the south side
Slowly lookin' all around
Three wise guys tried to take him
But they lay dead on the ground

[Chorus]
(Scatting)
The sounds of a gunshot jus' a cry
[Verse 3]
In the other side of town
There's a rankin' named Billy Bow
He's also a top rankin'
But in the country raisin' cow

[Chorus]
(Scatting)
The sounds of a gunshot jus' a cry

[Chorus]
(Scatting)
The sounds of a gunshot jus' a cry

[Verse 4]
The mornin' passed so quickly
It was time for them to meet
It was twenty past eleven
When they walk out in the street
People peepin' through them window
Some of them a hold them breath
For, them think this other rankin' was about to meet him death

[Chorus]
(Scatting)
The sounds of a gunshot jus' a cry
[Verse 5]
It was forty feet between them
When they stopped to make them play
For the swiftness of the rankin' is still talk about today
Billy Bow might went on livin'
But made a foolish slip
Him couldn't match the rankin' with a big iron on his hip

[Chorus]
(Scatting)
The sounds of a gunshot jus' a cry

[Outro]
It was over in a moment
And the folk had gather round