Op Sam Brown was a lonesome convict 
He come from a Red River town 
There ain't no two ways about it 
It was Texas law that shot Sam down 

Ol' Sam Brown told me his story 
It seems a bad check writer was he 
Seven times down and seven times sorry 
He had to spend his life under lock and key 

I guess that some will say 
He was worthless 
And that he got only what was fair 
But I'm here to say right now 
Ol' Sam Brown was just a little person 
Who caught up in this lifes 
Great pull and tear 

Ol' Sam Brown, he liked them outlaws 
Billie the Kid, Frank and Jessie James 
And I guess he read a thousand stories 
Of the days when they roamed the plains 

Tell me why didn't someone 
Help him 
To belive in himself 
Some, too 
Hell no, they'd rather give a man 
About a hundred years 
Just to prove they can be 
Tougher than you 

Ol' Sam Brown died on a Sunday morning 
Layin' right there in that cement cell 

Whith ragged convicts to mourn his passin' 
And no loved ones to bid farewell 
They used to tell him 
Sam - straighten up 
And fly right 
They used to tell him 
Sam - don't you stay out 
Late at at night 
And why .... 
Can't you be like I am , Sam 
Will you ever see the light ?