portrait of a legend lyrics

I sure am...

The tenderness of love's embrace
Can sometimes leave a lonely taste
Bobby Joe is jumping on a Western Union train

The sun is high but Bobby's low
His bags were packed so long ago
He's just a shadow of a man with nothing left to lose

So gather round and I will tell a story sad and true
About a man called Bobby Joe
A man that I once knew

I told you how he acted tough
Played the fool and lost his love
While he was a-jumping on that Western Union train
Woo Woo
Woo Woo

Without a home or family
In a travelling theatre company
I still recall that sunny day the circus came to town

The whole town came to see the show
Folks all laughed at Bobby Joe
He tried to be an acrobat but always played the clown

He met a girl called Mary Lou I saw them hand in hand
Her father was the sheriff though and didn't understand

And then the circus had to leave
And Bobby said please wait for me
I'll come back with some money and we'll buy a plot of land

Now circus life does not pay much
And Bobby lost his gambling touch
The promises to Mary Lou still echoed in his head
He robbed and stole in every town
They never did suspect the clown
Until one day he went too far and left a man for dead

But in his hideout in the woods he thought of Mary Lou
And in his mind he made a plan of things he had to do
He got to see her right away
So many things he got to say
The need to know if she could ever love a wanted man

That night he rode to Mary's place
He hoped to see a friendly face
But Sheriff Graves was waiting with a gun and several men
They all took aim but no-one knew
That at that moment Mary Lou
Would come out of the shadows and run to her Bobby's arms
But Mary never got there as a single shot was fired
A bullet meant for Bobby meant that Mary's life expired

But through his grief he fired his gun
Until he was the only one alive with just a memory
Now bloodstained with revenge

So gather round and I will tell a story sad and true
About a man called Bobby Joe
A man that I once knew

The tenderness of love's embrace
Can sometimes leave a lonely taste
Bobby Joe is jumping on a Western Union train
Woo Woo
Woo Woo
Woo Woo
Woo Woo