The Ballad Of Stanley 
By Randy Rogers

Capo 2

Bm                    D
Stanley was a drifter back in '53
A                     Bm
Never had a bed where he could sleep
Bm                        D
He ate his meals from the garbage can
A                      Bm
Just walked around without a real plan
Bm                   D 
Found his way to the Texas line,
A                        Bm 
Stumbled into our town a quarter past nine
Bm                    D 
Had a few drinks at a roadside bar
    A                      Bm
And that's where our story really starts 


It was there in the barlight, in a corner booth
Where Stan first met the man who called himself Ruth
Ruth planned to rob the bank and all Stan had to do
Was drive the getaway car, what did he have to lose
Well it sounded good to Stan, cause he'd never had
No kind of money or a side that was bad
They'd take the money skip town and run
And live like two kings in the mexican sun

Chorus:
D     A            G      D  
Tumbleweed blowing in the wind
A                                          Bm 
Carried him somewhere he never should have been
Bm                  D
Was it fate or just circumstance 
A                           Bm
Makes you wonder if he ever had a chance


Well across from the First State Band the next day at four
From the drivers seat Stan watched him walk through the door
Whipped out his pistols and waived them all around
He ordered all the scared people down onto the ground
He took the money bags and maybe just for fun
He shot two men dead and one of their sons
Back outside he ordered Stan to drive
The hit the county line 5 minutes till 5

Repeat Chorus

Bridge:
Bm                          D
Feds caught up with them outside of Larado
A                             Bm  
In an ambush of bullets and a cloud of gun smoke
Bm                          D
They killed an innocent man on that day
    A                           Bm
But now that poor drifter has a bed where he can lay