He was tougher than leather And he didn't care whether The sun shined or not When a young kid in Cow Town Wanted a showdown He was careless or just maybe forgot But he died in the gunfight Blinded by sunlight Never draw when you're facin' the sun And old tougher than leather Just carved one more notch on his gun And when he turned to go The beautiful maiden knelt down Where her dead sweetheart lay And on his breast placed a rose While the townspeople stared in dismay And old tougher than leather Should've known better But he picked up the rose in his hand And the townspeople froze When his hands crushed the rose And the rose petals fell in the sand And old tougher than leather Was a full-time go-getter The grass never grew beneath his feet From one town to another He would ride like the wind But his mind kept going back to the street Where a young cowboy died And a young maiden cried And rose petals fell in the sand And his heart had been softened By the beautiful maid And he knew he must see her again Well he went back to the town Where it all had come down And he searched but his search was in vain He had wanted to find her And say he was sorry For causing her heart so much pain But one night he died from a poison inside Brought on by the wrong he had done And old tougher than leather Had carved his last notch on his gun Well he was burried in Cow Town Along about sundown Lookin' good in his new store-bought clothes When the young maiden came over And knelt down beside him And on his lapel placed a rose There's a bird in the sky Flying high, flying high To a place from a place Changing skies, changing skies