Pride and the Badge Songtext
von Marty Robbins

All night long I tried to sleep but sleep refused to come
'Cause today I knew I'd either have to fight or run
Knowin' if I choose to run my mind would never rest
'Cause with so much pride I wear this badge upon my vest

Folks are filled with fear because there's three bad guns in town
Sheriff Olsen made the wrong move and they shot him down
One they called Dakota Jack and one El Paso Red
The other just turned twenty and he's called the Killer Kid

Good advice I get and that's to leave and run away
But my pride and badge I wear won't let me live this way
And if I stay the three have bragged they'll add me to their list
But I have a different aim and I don't aim to miss

From the doorway where I stand I see the outlaws three
Worried none because they know the town's not helpin' me
From a hundred yards away I try a lucky shot
Luck is with me and Dakota Jack dies on the spot


Well a kid runs through the barroom door and Red goes up the stairs
The Kid is ragin' mad, he's breakin' bottles, kickin' chairs
And from a roof El Paso Red has vowed to pay me back
As he views the lifeless body of Dakota Jack

I can see him as he jumps from one roof to the next
Searchin' for me but he has no idea where I'm at
But I watch his every move I'm ready when he leaps
As I shoot him in mid air he crashes to the street

Now there's one against just one I've evened up the score
Down the street I hear a yell come through the barroom door
The Kid has screamed, there's no way I can live unless I run
Said there ain't no lawdog man enough to take his gun

Through the barroom door he walks and steps out on the street
I can't match his draw, he's much too fast for me to beat
And as I walk toward him we both grab a forty-five
Maybe I will die today and he will stay alive

Like a hammer somethin' hits me spinnin' me around
As I fall I shoot him twice before he hits the ground
His bullet missed me, still I feel a burnin' in my chest
His bullet hits the badge I wear with pride upon my vest


As the people view the bodies of the lifeless three
From their looks I know exactly what they think of me
To them I'm just a killer and they could not care less
'Bout my pride or 'bout the badge I wear upon my vest