Everyone in Nacadoches knew Tom Ames would come to some bad end
Well the sheriff had cought him stealin` chickens and such
by the time that he was ten
And one day his daddy took a ten dollar bill
and he tucked it in his hand
He said I can tell you`re headed for trouble son
and your momma wouldn`t understand
So he took that money and his brothers old bay
and he left without a word of thanks
Fell in with a crowd in some border town
and took to robbin` banks
Outside the law your luck will run out fast
and a few years came and went
`Till he`s trapped in an alley in Abilene
with all but four shells spent
And he realized prayin` was the only thing
that he hadn`t ever tried
Well he wasn`t sure he knew quite how
but he looked up to the sky
Said you don`t owe me nothin` and as far as I know
Lord don`t owe nothin` to you
And I ain`t askin` for a miracle Lord
just a little bit of luck will do
And you know I ain`t never prayed before
but it always seemed to me
If prayin` is the same as beggin` Lord
I don`t take no charity
Yeah but right now Lord with my back to the wall
Can`t help but recall
How they nearly hung me for stealin` a horse
in Fort Smith Arkansas
Judge Parker said guilty and the gavel came down
just like a cannon shot
And I went away quietly
and I began to file and plot
Well they sent the preacher down to my cell
He said the Lord is your only hope
He`s the only friend that you gonna have
When you hit the end of Parker`s rope
Well I guess he coulda` kept on preachin` `till Christmas
but he turned his back on me
I put a home made blade to that golden throat
and asked the deputy for the key
Well it ain`t the first close call I ever had
I`m sure you already know
I had some help from you Lord and the devil himself
It`s been strictly touch and go
Yeah but who in the hell am I talkin` to
there ain`t no one here but me
Then he cocked both his pistols and he spit in the dirt
and he walked out in the street
