Gone in the Grey

Verse 1

Cheap whiskey burning, cigarette glow.

Stuck in a world that he don't even know.

They paved over heaven, put up a mall.

Right where the wild herds used to run tall.

Verse 2

He’s got a bad reputation, a record of fights.

Sleeping in ditches and running the lights.

He don't take no orders, don't bow to the state.

A loaded revolver deciding his fate.

Chorus

So pour me a double and cue up the band.

The law took the freedom right out of this land.

They’ll hunt you for living, they’ll lock you away.

But they can't catch a cowboy who’s gone in the grey.

Verse 3

He kicked in the doors of the corporate banks.

Gave all the cash to the poor and the cranks.

The flashing blue lights chased his beaten-up Ford.

Living on speed and the word of the Lord.

Verse 4

A midnight outlaw, a son of a gun.

With too many miles and nowhere to run.

The state troopers called him a menace and plague.

But folk heroes thrive when the boundaries are vague.

Chorus

So pour me a double and cue up the band.

The law took the freedom right out of this land.

They’ll hunt you for living, they’ll lock you away.

But they can't catch a cowboy who’s gone in the grey.

Bridge

The judge has a gavel, the warden a key.

But prison ain't built for a sinner like me.

I’d rather take lead in the middle of the night.

Than rot in a cage out of everybody's sight.

Verse 5

They blocked off the highway with spikes and a tank.

He didn't slow down, didn't turn, didn't flank.

He stepped out the door with his Winchester high.

Staring the bastards right straight in the eye.

Verse 6

A volley of iron tore into his vest.

He died with a curse ripping out of his chest.

No tears from the sheriff, no flags on the box.

Just a cold gravel grave full of thistles and rocks.

Outro

Now jukeboxes echo his name in the dark.

Way out in the woods where the hounds never bark.

The law won the battle, they put him in clay.

But his ghost is still running the highway today.