The classic Ballad was first released in 1959 on the "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs" album, and went on to win a Grammy Award in 1960.
Unfortunately the important verses explaining why the first person narrator of the song must stay away from Fellina (the Mexican girl who is the love of his life) are not included in this clip.
El Paso
Marty Robbins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I fell in love with a Mexican girl
Nighttime would find me in Rosa's Cantina
Music would play and Feleena would whirl
Blacker than night were the eyes of Feleena
Wicked and evil while casting a spell
My love was deep for this Mexican maiden
I was in love, but in vain, I could tell
One night, a wild young cowboy came in
Wild as the West Texas wind
Dashing and daring, a drink he was sharing
With wicked Feleena, the girl that I loved
So in anger, I challenged his right for the love of this maiden
Down went his hand for the gun that he wore
My challenge was answered in less than a heartbeat
The handsome young stranger lay dead on the floor
Just for a moment I stood there In silence
Shocked by the foul evil deed I had done
Many thoughts raced through my mind as I stood there
I had but one chance and that was to run
Out through the back door of Rosa's I ran
Out where the horses were tied
I caught a good one, it looked like it could run
Up on its back, and away I did ride
Just as fast as I could from the West Texas town of El Paso
Out to the badlands of New Mexico
Back in El Paso, my life would be worthless
Everything's gone in life, nothing is left
It's been so long since I've seen the young maiden
My love is stronger than my fear of death
I saddled up and away I did go
Riding alone in the dark
Maybe tomorrow, a bullet may find me
Tonight, nothing's worse than this pain in my heart
And at last here I am on the hill overlooking El Paso
I can see Rosa's Cantina below
My love is strong and it pushes me onward
Down off the hill to Feleena I go
Off to my right, I see five mounted cowboys
Off to my left ride a dozen or more
Shouting and shooting, I can't let them catch me
I have to make it to Rosa's back door
Something is dreadfully wrong, for I feel
A deep burning pain in my side
Though I am trying to stay in the saddle
I'm getting weary, unable to ride
But my love for Feleena is strong and I rise where I've fallen
Though I am weary, I can't stop to rest
I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle
I feel the bullet go deep in my chest
From out of nowhere, Feleena has found me
Kissing my cheek as she kneels by my side
Cradled by two loving arms that I'll die for
One little kiss and Feleena, goodbye
The song El Paso by Marty Robbins tells a tragic love story about a man who fell in love with a Mexican girl in the town of El Paso in West Texas. The singer spent his nights at Rosa's Cantina, where he would watch Feleena dance to the music. He was in love with the Mexican maiden, but unfortunately, she was already under the spell of another man. One night, a wild cowboy came in, and the two men had a showdown. The singer bested the cowboy, but had to flee from the town because the law was after him. He rode on his horse through the dark and lonely Badlands of New Mexico with the painful memory of his lost love.
The next day, he returned to El Paso to see Feleena one more time before his certain death. As he rides towards Rosa's Cantina, he sees mounted cowboys on his right and left, shouting and shooting after him. He tried to stay in the saddle, but his wound became too great, and he falls off his horse. Feleena emerges from nowhere and tries to comfort him in his final moments. He asks for one last kiss from her before he takes his last breath.
Line by Line Meaning
Out in the West Texas town of El Paso
At a western town known as El Paso
I fell in love with a Mexican girl
I fell in love with a girl who is of Mexican origin
Nighttime would find me in Rosa's Cantina
I would spend my evening at Rosa's bar and nightclub
Music would play and Feleena would whirl
The music would play and Feleena would dance gracefully
Blacker than night were the eyes of Feleena
Feleena had eyes that were dark as the night
Wicked and evil while casting a spell
Feleena had an evil and wicked demeanor which felt like she was casting a spell on me
My love was deep for this Mexican maiden
I had deep feelings of love towards this Mexican girl
I was in love, but in vain, I could tell
My love towards her was futile as it was unrequited
One night, a wild young cowboy came in
One night, a young cowboy came in who was wild and reckless
Wild as the West Texas wind
He was as wild as the unpredictable West Texas wind
Dashing and daring, a drink he was sharing
He was brave and adventurous, and drinking with others
With wicked Feleena, the girl that I loved
He was drinking with Feleena, the girl I loved who I thought was wicked
So in anger, I challenged his right for the love of this maiden
I angrily challenged his right to her love and affection
Down went his hand for the gun that he wore
He went for the gun he was carrying as he picked up the challenge
My challenge was answered in less than a heartbeat
The young cowboy answered back to my challenge in no time
The handsome young stranger lay dead on the floor
The youthful cowboy was killed and lay dead on the ground
Just for a moment I stood there In silence
Momentarily, I stood there in silence
Shocked by the foul evil deed I had done
I was dumbstruck by how evil and corrupt I'd become
Many thoughts raced through my mind as I stood there
As I stood there, many thoughts raced through my mind
I had but one chance and that was to run
I had only one option and that was to flee
Out through the back door of Rosa's I ran
I ran out through the back door of Rosa's bar and nightclub
Out where the horses were tied
I went out to where the horses were tied up
I caught a good one, it looked like it could run
I caught a horse that looked like it could run fast
Up on its back, and away I did ride
I mounted onto its back and rode away quickly
Just as fast as I could from the West Texas town of El Paso
As fast as I could, I left the western Texas town of El Paso behind me
Out to the badlands of New Mexico
I went to the badlands of New Mexico
Back in El Paso, my life would be worthless
My life would be meaningless if I were to come back to El Paso
Everything's gone in life, nothing is left
I had lost every little thing in my life, and had nothing left
It's been so long since I've seen the young maiden
It had been a long time since I last saw the young lady
My love is stronger than my fear of death
My love for her was stronger than my fear of death
I saddled up and away I did go
I got ready and left the place quickly
Riding alone in the dark
I rode alone, in the dark
Maybe tomorrow, a bullet may find me
There might be a bullet waiting to find me the next day
Tonight, nothing's worse than this pain in my heart
Today, there was nothing else that hurt me more than the pain in my heart
And at last here I am on the hill overlooking El Paso
Finally, I am standing on the hill that overlooks El Paso
I can see Rosa's Cantina below
I can see Rosa's bar and nightclub right below me
My love is strong and it pushes me onward
My strong love for her compelled me to move on
Down off the hill to Feleena I go
I went down the hill towards Feleena
Off to my right, I see five mounted cowboys
I saw five mounted cowboys to my right
Off to my left ride a dozen or more
On my left, hundreds of riders were heading towards me
Shouting and shooting, I can't let them catch me
They were shouting and shooting, and I couldn't let them catch me
I have to make it to Rosa's back door
I had to reach Rosa's back door
Something is dreadfully wrong, for I feel
Something is terrible, for I feel
A deep burning pain in my side
A deep sharp pain in my side
Though I am trying to stay in the saddle
Although I am trying to stay on the horse
I'm getting weary, unable to ride
I'm becoming too tired and can't ride any longer
But my love for Feleena is strong and I rise where I've fallen
My love for Feleena is quite strong, and this encourages me to stand up again when I've fallen
Though I am weary, I can't stop to rest
Despite my weariness, I had no time to rest
I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle
I saw the white puff of smoke from the rifle's muzzle
I feel the bullet go deep in my chest
I felt the bullet pierce through my chest and hurt myself
From out of nowhere, Feleena has found me
Out of nowhere Feleena appeared beside me
Kissing my cheek as she kneels by my side
Feleena kissed my cheek as she knelt beside me
Cradled by two loving arms that I'll die for
I was held closely by her two loving arms, for which I'll die for
One little kiss and Feleena, goodbye
One last kiss, and it was a good-bye to Feleena
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Marty Robbins
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@hermanfialho
Out in the West Texas town of El Paso
I fell in love with a Mexican girl.
Night-time would find me in Rosa's cantina;
Music would play and Felina would whirl.
Blacker than night were the eyes of Felina,
Wicked and evil while casting a spell.
My love was deep for this Mexican maiden;
I was in love but in vain, I could tell.
One night a wild young cowboy came in,
Wild as the West Texas wind.
Dashing and daring,
A drink he was sharing
With wicked Felina,
The girl that I loved.
So in anger I
Challenged his right for the love of this maiden.
Down went his hand for the gun that he wore.
My challenge was answered in less than a heart-beat;
The handsome young stranger lay dead on the floor.
Just for a moment I stood there in silence,
Shocked by the FOUL EVIL deed I had done.
Many thoughts raced through my mind as I stood there;
I had but one chance and that was to run.
Out through the back door of Rosa's I ran,
Out where the horses were tied.
I caught a good one.
It looked like it could run.
Up on its back
And away I did ride,
Just as fast as I
Could from the West Texas town of El Paso
Out to the bad-lands of New Mexico.
Back in El Paso my life would be worthless.
Everything's gone in life; nothing is left.
It's been so long since I've seen the young maiden
My love is stronger than my fear of death.
I saddled up and away I did go,
Riding alone in the dark.
Maybe tomorrow
A bullet may find me.
Tonight nothing's worse than this
Pain in my heart.
And at last here I
Am on the hill overlooking El Paso;
I can see Rosa's cantina below.
My love is strong and it pushes me onward.
Down off the hill to Felina I go.
Off to my right I see five mounted cowboys;
Off to my left ride a dozen or more.
Shouting and shooting I can't let them catch me.
I have to make it to Rosa's back door.
Something is dreadfully wrong for I feel
A deep burning pain in my side.
Though I am trying
To stay in the saddle,
I'm getting weary,
Unable to ride.
But my love for
Felina is strong and I rise where I've fallen,
Though I am weary I can't stop to rest.
I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle.
I feel the bullet go deep in my chest.
From out of nowhere Felina has found me,
Kissing my cheek as she kneels by my side.
Cradled by two loving arms that I'll die for,
One little kiss and Felina, good-bye.
@JCMProductions
I just stole a car in New Hampshire and this song was playing on the radio. I gotta go give some money to my family, wish me luck
@kowboyko1443
#Kowboyshit
@mohammaddalroti964
Good luck, Mr Lambert!!! And happy birthday in advance!! Just stop by Danny's and get your birthday meal for free.
@joshuakeddy1682
Lol hahahahaha
@kenichewa
Say hi to Felina from us
@FART674xbox
I live in NH im hunting you
@deadbeatradio7831
My wife is half mexican so every now and then I play this song and dance with her randomly to show her I love her. Of course I play the cowboy and she loves it. She's the love my life.
@ezequieldelgado3004
Nice. Very nice, music, i am mexican, i love this kind music , often likes me listened, very wishes for wife and you.
@reginagargan2543
Lucky girl 😂
@fahadzaman5137
got the same goals. wish me luck, there's a lot of obstacles