The Fool's Paradise

As I write this letter to you darling

I can't hold the teardrops from my eyes

For at sundown I will lay a dying

At the door of the Fool's Paradise.



Rode into this cattle town this morning

Left my bearer to check the market price

And I walked into the nearest barroom

They call it the Fool's Paradise.



There the crowd was gay and girls were dancing

And the men were playing cards and dice

So I stepped up to the bar to join them

What a grand place this Fool's Paradise.



It was then I showed to them your picture

I passed it around once or twice

Then a man insulted your sweet honor

At the bar of the Fool's Paradise.



So I slapped his face and I told him

I said you eat 'em words Mister or draw that's my advice

And he said well somebody might get hurty inside

But I'll be glad to meet you in the street at sundown

At sundown in front of the Fool's Paradise.



So goodbye my darling may God bless you

I go to make this sacrifice

And if ever you visit old Dodge City

Remember the Fool's Paradise...