By Rope - Oh Susanna

Eight mouths open crying to be fed

Sixteen hands, a single loaf of bread

Two cold eyes too sad to shed a tear

Eighteen years that I’ve been living here

Oh my brothers, oh my sisters

You won’t see me again

I’ve headed out west to join the Williams gang

Sixteen coaches running down the track

Eight men ride through the night so black

Four gunshots go through the railman’s head

One more man lies in a pool of red

Oh my brothers, oh my sisters

I’m on this dusty plain

I rob every stagecoach and passenger train

One bright morning fast asleep in bed

One soft voice coos, «Up you sleepy head»

Two thick barrels pressed against my face

Four strong hands drag me from this place

Tell my brothers, tell my sisters

They won’t see me again

For early next morning by rope I will hang

See my brothers, see my sisters

See my mother’s face

They’ve come much too late for by rope I am hanged