Woody Guthrie - Jesse James (Leadbelly's version) lyrics

Jesse James and his boys rode that Dodge City Trail Held up the midnight Southern mail And there never was a man with the law in his hand That could keep Jesse James in a jail It was Frank and Jesse James that k**ed many a man But they never was outlaws at heart I wrote this song to tell you how it come That Frank and Jesse James got their start They was living on a farm in the old Missouri hills With a silver-haired mother and a home Now, the railroad bullies come to chase them off their land But they found that Frank and Jesse wouldn't run Then a railroad scab, he went and got a bomb And he throwed it at the door And it k**ed Mrs. James a-sleeping in her bed So Jesse grabbed a big forty-four Yes, Frank and Jesse James was men that was game To stop that high-rolling train And to shoot down the rat that k**ed Mrs. James They was Two-Gun Frank and Jesse James Now, a ba*tard and coward called little Robert Ford He claimed he was Frank and Jesse's friend Made love to Jesse's wife and he took Jesse's life And he laid poor Jesse in his grave The people were surprised when Jesse lost his life Wondered how he ever came to fall Robert Ford, it's a fact, shot Jesse in the back While Jesse hung a picture on the wall They dug Jesse's grave and a stone they raised It says, "Jesse James lies here Was k**ed by a man, a ba*tard and a coward Whose name ain't worthy to appear"