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  1. Ruby Shade

From the recording My First Posthumous Release

Lyrics

RUBY SHADE
(AL ROSE - WHEEL SEA MUSIC / ASCAP)


I was born in Colorado but Wyoming is my home
All the granite that passed through me made me heavier than stone
From Cody to Durango I never had a friend
But my horse named Ruby Shade, she tolerates

I'm a contradicting hacking cough with a mouth a mile wide
My heartís a pumping station and my conscience has no guide
My love songs (if you call them that) are dark and full of gloom
And the odor from within me will just never leave the room

I was sitting at the bar with both shoulders full of chips
The stranger to my left was raising whiskey to his lips
Our paths might never cross but just in case they do some day
Just in case he might deceive me / One less stranger anyway

The punishment was swift / I am the jury and the judge
I am the nail and the hammer and the bearer of the grudge
I could've used my gun on him so obvious and plain
I gave my steel blade the call / More agony and pain

The knife tip broke the skin, cut a vein and hit a nerve
The muscle of his forearm, well, it got what it deserved
I didn't see the pearl handle hidden in his boot
He staggered back and smiled / He was the judge and jury, too

The bullet grazed my blood pump, but I'm luckier than most
An angel meant for someone else; she saved me from the ghost
If she'd only known the evil that she cradled from the pain
Then I'd surely seen my life and blood flow clockwise like a drain

Iíve never been a praying man and Iíve never been afraid
And Iíve never been as low since I was five feet in the grave
Now Iím just counting on some supper and a place to rest my head
Things are looking up since I was shot and left for dead

Now I'm different like a canyon / I'm not evil Iím just bad
I wonít kill you just for nothing; now you gotta ask for that
Now I'm just holding it together with a duller killing blade
Kicking dust and kissing ladies on a horse named Ruby Shade