verse 1 Those other years, the dusty years When we drove the big herds through I tried to forget the miles we rode And Spanish Johnny too verse 2 He'd sit beside a water ditch when all his herd was in And he'd never harm a child but sing to his mandolin He sang the old songs, the old ways, and the dealins' of our game Spanish Johnny seldom spoke, but sang songs of Spain verse 3 And his talk with men was vicious talk When he was drunk on gin Ah, but those were golden things he said to his mandolin GUITAR SOLO verse 4 We had to stand, we had to judge, We had to stop him then For the hand so gentle to a child had killed so many men VERSE 5 He died a hard death long ago before the roads came in And the night before he swung he sung to his mandolin Well, we carried him out in the mornin' light a man who done no good And we lowered him down in the cold cold clay Stuck in a cross of wood And a letter he wrote to his kinfolk To tell them where he'd been And we shipped it on down to Mexico, Along with his mandolin