E                       B                  A
I'm a man who's goin' to hell with heaven's blessin'
E                       B              A
The judge said I'm not fit to live with men
E                       B              A
They're buildin' me a gallows in the courtyard
E                      B           A
To make sure I don't pass this way again
 
[Verse 2]
E                   B             A
My first taste of killin' was at Vicksburg
E             B                A
I must have shot me a hundred men
E                      B            A
I learned to make my livin' with a six-gun
E                   B                A
I'm an outlaw now, but I was a hero then
 
[Chorus]
E                B             A
Lord, if I had only known the mis'ry
E                       B                 A
That glory's somethin' not worth killin' for
E                  B                A
I wish now I had never touched the handle
E                 B     A
Of a hair-trigger Colt .44

E B A (x2)

[Verse 3]
E        B          A
I was a hunted desperado
E             B                   A
A wanted man with a price on my head
E                        B                 A
I thought that I could steal a taste of freedom
E              B              A
I got me a hangman's noose instead
 
[Chorus]
E                B             A
Lord, if I had only known the mis'ry
E                       B                 A
That glory's somethin' not worth killin' for
E                  B                A
I wish now I had never touched the handle
E                 B     A
Of a hair-trigger Colt .44
 
[Bridge]
E            B             A
Undertaker write on my tombstone
E                    B                 A
"A killer finally killed" and nothin' more
E                              B                 A
But I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for Providence
E                       B    A
And that hair-trigger Colt .44
 
[Chorus]
E                B             A
Lord, if I had only known the mis'ry
E                       B                 A
That glory's somethin' not worth killin' for
E                  B                A
I wish now I had never touched the handle
E                 B     A
Of a hair-trigger Colt .44
 
[Chorus]
E                B             A
Lord, if I had only known the mis'ry
E                       B                 A
That glory's somethin' not worth killin' for
E                  B                A
I wish now I had never touched the handle
E                 B     A
Of a hair-trigger Colt .44