The First Train Robbery
Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time
Capo 2

G                       C               G
I was born in forty three down in Jackson County
G                      D               G
Daddy was a farmer, we were tired of being poor
G                                  C                  G
My brothers taught me how to steal and live by jumping bounty
G                          D              G
But I learned how to kill in Lincoln's dirty war
 
 
When the fight was over I returned to mother 
I promised her I'd go to work and be an honest son
But in Seymour, Indiana I met up with my brothers
They said "Here comes the O&M" and they handed me a gun
 
Chorus
 
Goodbye brothers and all the Reno Gang 
Me and Frank and William, together we will hang
And goodbye sister, Laura, true and lovely
Tell everyone that we swung for the first train robbery
 
We boarded at the station, steamed through the holler 
The engineer, out of fear, stopped that rolling train 
We broke into the mail car, found those silver dollars
But, I saw a neighbor's face as we rode away
 
I said "Boys there was a witness, so before we split a penny
We need to find him and be sure he never testifies"
So, we strolled into Seymour and shot poor mister Kinney
Though he fell upon his knees and pleaded for his life
 
Three years longer, we lived on steak and brandy 
'Til the Pinkerton agents threw us in this cell
Now I hear the voices of the vigilantes
Sayin' "Let's put the Reno Boys on a train to hell"