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-dyin'

At the door of the fool's paradise

Rode into this border town this morning

Left my herd to check the market price

And I walked into the nearest bar room

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

A grand place, this fool's paradise

It was then I showed them your picture

I passed it around once or twice

Then a man insulted your honor

At the bar of the fool's paradise

So I hit him in the face and I said to him

I said, "Eat them words, mister, or draw"

And he said that folks might get hurt here inside

But that he'd meet me on 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 the sacrifice

And if ever you visit old El Rio

Think of me and the fool's paradise