Silver Target (Sheb Wooley)

Towns sprung up across the plain But soon the desperados came And gunshot echoed in the streets In a western town that mushroamed along the great frontier Was mostly honest folks that came to stay But law was slow in comin' and the bad men soon appereared Flockin' in like vultures to the prey Those that tried to stop them in their pillage of the town Bit the dust of Main Street one by one Till no one had the courage to step forward fom the rest And volunteer to wear a silver target on his chest The town sent for a Ranger to stop the lawless breed Men who bragged of killin's they had done The bad men heard them threaten but they laughed and paid no heed For who would dare to face their deadly guns It only made them bolder and the terror grew and grew Till one day the Ranger reached the town The bad men saw him comin' and they spoke in vulgar jest One of the quiet man who wore a silver target on his chest In the noonday sun a panic had hit the dusty street But from every window they all saw The showdown soon was comin' and the odds he had to beat With four to one against the Ranger's draw Then sudden death cut loose and when the smoke had cleared away The outlaws lay there dyin' in the street But a scarlet stain was spreadin' in the center of the West Of the quiet man who wore a silver target on his chest His name is not recorded in the book of history But on a marble stone you still can read Here lies a man who figured in the winnin' of the West A quiet man who wore a silver target on his chest