The Ballad of James Lee

Years ago, an idea for a song came to mind. I have always been fond of Westerns. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Audie Murphy and many other movie cowboys captured my imagination as a boy.

I wanted to keep the song simple so I only used one chord. I made riffs with the bass and six string guitars to keep the melody moving.

I wanted the lyric to be a haunting story of injustice and revenge. I wanted to condense a movie into a song.

The Ballad of James Lee

Hot desert wind....blowing sand

He envisions water cupped in his hands

Drinking a dream that never came

He died because of another man's ill fate

John Colter rode across his grave

His horse got spooked in a ghostly way

John became James Lee...the man that died

Cocked his guns and made his ride

Chorus:

The Devil's doom...went into town

James inside the man that shot them down

Johnny shot them down...down

Johnny shot them down

Verse:

It all began a bad mistake

James Lee looked like the killer Jake

But Jake was hung in Sunnyville

A month before...James Lee was killed

Sheriff Silver tied up Jame's feet

And the whole town kicked him in the street

Deputies took him 40 miles away

Into the desert...where he died the next day

Repeat Chorus:

VS:

John Colter left blood in his path

Dripping from the ghost of James Lee's wrath

The ghost of James Lee's wrath

Repeat Chorus.....end.

To this day....the song remains one of my favorites.  My wife Tammy and son, Larkin have always loved the song.  It seems to connect more.... with some people. 

If I could have chosen a singer for the song...it would have been Johnny Cash. 

I never wrote another song that was similar.  I started a few but they wound up as three pointers in my trash can.  Unless I write a better one...this remains my best...Country and  Western song about the old West.