The Ballad of Four Prisoners

[Verse 1]
Inside the walls of an old Yuma prison
Four captives lie awake in their beds
An earthquake had toppled the old prison walls
And put dreams of escape in their heads

[Verse 2]
As if it was God, or maybe the devil
Had finally shown them the way
They took out the guards, mounted their horses
And left before light of the day

[Chorus]
Four battered and desperate and dying men
Headed south in the glaring sun
Each one of them knowing that in the end
There could only be just one

[Verse 3]
The first stop they made was to dig up some gold
In the hills on the outside of the town
And one of them knew that his fate had been sealed
When his secret was pulled from the ground

[Verse 4]
The desert was hot and the canteens were empty
With water so hard to find
And the one who had shared up his secret of gold
Was the first one to get left behind

[Chorus]
Three battered and desperate and dying men
Headed south in the glaring sun
Each one of them knowing that in the end
There could only be just one

[Verse 5]
When they came upon water they stopped there to rest
As one took his place in the shade
The others slept lightly and when he awoke
He knew the mistake he had made

[Verse 6]
He followed on foot, he went over the mountain
Determined to catch them again
And when he succeeded, a gunfight ensued
And brought one man’s life to an end

[Chorus]
Two battered and desperate and dying men
Headed south in the glaring sun
Each one of them knowing that in the end
There could only be just one

[Verse 7]
Seventy miles they rode in the summer
South through the Mexico line
They came to the bay, at the edge of the ocean
As bounty men followed behind

[Verse 8]
The trackers pursued them and one man lie wounded
He held up his gun in his hand
Said my time is up, you go on without me
It's time that I make my last stand

[Chorus]
One battered and desperate and dying man
Headed south in the glaring sun
Out on the water a boat sets sail
A journey just begun