Jesse James is running and he'll never be at rest
Till the day they fold his arms across his chest
He's a long way from the cradle and his ma's authority
But it only seems a minute since he stood over his bed
And she tried to tell him something now what the hell was it she said
Jesse James is thinking of the breaks he never had
And the gene that cursed his blood group rhesus-bad
Jesse James lived money his account was in the black
Till the day he stopped a bullet with his back
Well the zip code may read Vegas but the heart beats tupelo
And a footstep is such a small thing that it's neither here nor there
Till you string those steps together and find home is way back
Way back where ?
Jesse James was never part of life's great symphony
All he heard were penny whistles out of key
Jesse James he promised I will never die afraid
That boy perjured every vow he ever made