[Verse 1] Whiskey flowed like the river at dawn, Arapahoe’s camp where the wild is born. Laughin’ and dancin’ to the fiddle’s wail, While cards fell heavy and fortunes turned pale. [Verse 2] Hankey Dean sat with a devil’s grin, Buckskin chaps and a thirst to win. But luck had left him, cold and clean, Starin’ down at his last damn chip unseen. [Chorus] "No wonder I’ve been losin’ every hand, There’s a ghost in the corner blockin’ my stand!" He snarled at the stranger lean and gray, "Boy, do you know who you’re talkin’ to today?" [Verse 3] The stranger coughed, just a whisper low, "Yeah, I know—and I don’t give a damn though." The saloon went still as a midnight grave, Even the whiskey forgot how to wave. [Verse 4] Hankey laughed like a storm unfurled, "I’ve wrangled beasts and tamed the world! Rattlers strike me and drop down dead, Now where’s your kinfolk, boy? Where’s your bed?" [Bridge] The stranger moved slow, a shadow uncrossed, Picked up a spade from the floor that was lost. Pinned it high on the saloon’s old frame, Stepped back twenty—then aimed his claim. (Gunshots ring—one, two, three, four!) Four little stars on the card no more. One bullet left with a question cold, "You want the last one, or do you fold?" [Verse 5] Hankey’s voice cracked like a winter branch, "Them lions was just a tall tale, man! Mercy, mister, I’m soft as dust, Just a lamb in a wolf’s old crust." [Outro] The stranger holstered his still-warm steel, Walked out slow where the night stood still. Some say Hankey never played again, Just a ghost in the wind—where the wild things end. [Fin.]
