There was a man whose deeds were dark as night And quite by chance he rode into the light A man wild as the dust devil with no place to run livin' by his wits and by his gun He met a girl like none he had ever known she cared not for the wild oats he had sown And so he laid his gun down and set his spirit free began living in respectability But his old ways of thinkin' wouldn't die could not forget the old creed he lived by And the good and bad and right and wrong kept fightin' for his soul Till his heart and mind both went out of control [ guitar ] But now the old saloon had lost its spell what once was laughter now was living hell And the hookers guns and drinkin' in his life were out of place And in his mind he saw an angel's face So he burned all his bridges in a day and the devil deeds were done and laid away And he rode out a better man than when he first rode in And the angel got the badman in the end