Silverado
The Marshall Tucker Band Lyrics

As a young man I was raised by men of the cloth
As a child, I was raised to believe in the goodness of people by religious leaders.

And I was tought to judge men equal and not to find their faults
I was taught to not judge people based on their imperfections or flaws, but to treat everyone equally.

Until one day I witnessed a tragic thing
Unfortunately, one day I witnessed something incredibly sad.

The men lay on the church steps, slain
After the tragedy, I saw several men dead on the church steps.

And when the smoke cleared a tall man holstered his gun
After the chaos died down, I saw a tall man put away his weapon.

The bright day ended and a cloud did cover the sun
Suddenly, the bright day became dark, as a cloud covered the sun and cast a shadow.

I found hate in my heart that I'd never known before
After witnessing this tragedy, I experienced a feeling of hate that I had never felt before.

I'll see this man hang and if that's the one thing that I know for sure
I am determined to make sure that this man, whoever he is, will receive the punishment of being hanged for his atrocities.

Silverado you'll hang by the hangman's tree
The man I'm talking about is called Silverado and he will be hanged from the hangman's tree.

And you'll die in misery
His death will not be quick or peaceful, he will suffer miserably.

His face remained in my eyes as I grew through the years
I could never forget the face of the man who committed such a terrible crime as I grew up over the years.

I practiced shooting every day while trying to hold back the tears
In order to prepare myself to face this man, I practiced shooting every day, while also trying to hold back my tears.

I travelled through Oklahoma and Texas to the Rio Grande
I traveled through several states and reached the Rio Grande.

Knowing when I met Silverado the Lord would steady my hand
I had faith that when I finally met Silverado the Lord would guide me and give me strength to face him.

Then the day came I dreamed of for years
Finally, the day that I had been dreaming of for years came.

Silverado stood before me and my heart it pounded in fear
I was both frightened and anxious when I met Silverado in person.

As he turned and saw my eyes he knew why I'd come
As soon as Silverado saw my eyes, he knew the reason for my visit.

And without a flick of the eyes he went for his gun
Suddenly, Silverado reached for his gun without even a glance in my direction.

And as I caused a fight tears come to my eyes
After getting into a fight with Silverado, tears came to my eyes.

When he collapsed before me I dropped my gun and sighed
Once Silverado fell to the ground, I dropped my gun and let out a sigh of relief.