Gather around me my good friends 'cause I got a tale to tell
About a man who shot me once, and this wound still feels like hell
I was riding high after a wild night, and I saw a man in red
And I told him hey, you’re in my way, and he said you’re good as dead
He was mean and part machine, his shotgun’s thunder burst
His lead hit home, I hit the dirt, even though I drew first
He’d won the gunplay, all in fair play, but I had to know
The reason why, he wore crimson, red from head to toe
And I was bleeding out, but the man in red, said boy you listen close
And I’ll explain the genesis of the color of my choice
He said
When I was young, my daddy took me to a bullring far from town
To man me up and make me tough, so I’d never back down
I felt the rise of the bull’s eyes when it saw the cape blood red
I knew right then, the hue for which I’d been born and bred
So heed this warning, avoid this man, good night and so long
You can forget the singer, but don’t forget the song