The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd

woody guthrie

come gather around me children : a story I will tell
of Pretty Boy Floyd : an outlaw • Oklahoma knew him well
it was in the town of Shawnee • it was Saturday afternoon
his wife beside him in his wagon as into town they rode

there a deputy sheriff approached him in a manner rather rude
using vulgar words of language and his wife she overheard
Pretty Boy grabbed a log chain and the deputy grabbed a gun
and in the fight that followed he laid that deputy down

he took to the trees and timbers and he lived a life of shame
every crime in Oklahoma was added to his name
yes he took to the trees and timbers on that Canadian River shore
and Pretty Boy found a welcome at a many a farmer's door

there's many a starving farmer the same old story told
how this outlaw paid their mortgage and saved their little home
others tell you about a stranger who came to beg a meal
and underneath his napkin left a thousand dollar bill

it was in Oklahoma City • it was on a Christmas Day
there come a whole car load of groceries with a letter that did say:
"you say that I'm an outlaw and you say that I'm a thief
here's a Christmas dinner for the families on relief"

now as through this world I ramble I see lots of funny men
some will rob you with a sixgun and some with a fountain pen
but as through your life you travel and as through your life you roam
you will never see an outlaw drive a family from their home