A young man rode with his head held high Under the Texas sun And no one guessed that a man so blessed Would perished by the gun Lord, would perished by the gun A shot rang out like a sudden shout And heaven held its breath For the dreams of a multitude of men Rode with him to his death Lord, rode with him to his death Yes, the heart of the world weighs heavy With the helplessness of tears Fort the man cut down in a Texas town In the summer of his years The summer of his year And we who stay mustn't ever lose The victories that he won For whenever man looked for freedom then His soul goes riding on Lord, his soul goes riding on