[Verse 1] Down by the Pecos where the cottonwoods grow, There's a little adobe town where the warm winds blow. Cards on the table and whiskey going round, For a wanted young man it felt like solid ground. Friends called him Billy, nobody asked why, They'd drink till the moon crossed the New Mexico sky. For a few stolen hours he could laugh like before, Leave the gun by his chair and forget about the law. [Pre-Chorus] Maybe home ain't a house, Maybe home ain't a name. Maybe home is just somewhere They don't care where you came. [Chorus] Fort Sumner, Keep the lantern burning low. Fort Sumner, There's nowhere else to go. Let the whiskey keep pouring, Let the old fiddle play. If tomorrow comes looking... We can ride then — not today. [Verse 2] Mexico was calling, just a few days away, But Paulita Maxwell gave him reasons to stay. Billy knew every doorway, every face in the room, Every trail through the darkness underneath the pale moon. But rumours came riding from Lincoln again — Pat Garrett wore a badge now and rode with his men. Billy just smiled when they told him the news: He'd played cards with Pat Garrett, and he'd taught Pat to lose. [Pre-Chorus] Maybe Garrett comes tonight, Maybe sometime next week. But Billy had grown tired Of the running and the hide-and-seek. [Chorus] Fort Sumner, Keep the lantern burning low. Fort Sumner, There's nowhere else to go. Let the whiskey keep pouring, Let the old fiddle play. If tomorrow comes looking... We can ride then — not today. [Bridge – intimate] Twenty-one years, Give or take a lie. Too young to settle down, Too stubborn yet to die. New York behind him, Silver City gone, Tunstall in the ground... And Billy riding on. [Instrumental Nylon-string guitar and fiddle trade a gentle border melody. A distant electric guitar slowly enters underneath, introducing a darker motif.] [Verse 3 – darker] Somewhere beyond town an old friend drew near, Coat buttoned tight against the cold December air. No shouting, no warning, no trumpet or drum — Just Garrett waiting quiet... And winter coming on. [Final Chorus] Fort Sumner, Keep the lantern burning low. Fort Sumner, There's something you don't know. Let the whiskey stop pouring, Let the old fiddle fade. There's a man in the darkness... Standing in Billy's way. [Outro Almost everything disappears. Nylon-string guitar. One low fiddle note.] Six riders in the snow. Tom O'Folliard rides in first. Silence. Billy turns his horse... Not tonight... Not yet.
