Oh Vail, Oh Vail won't you let them boys go?
There's a mother crying somewhere up in San Antonio
I know that star you wear leads those people to their king
But it don't sound like angels when that Colt begins to sing

Long ago he stopped asking the question, of why some people do the things they do
Consequence had chosen him to satisfy its every whim, it was all a plan that much he knew
Moses he went up on to that mountain, now Vail can send a man down with his draw
It was only fair and just that all those made of ash and dust, heeded his commandments of the law

Oh Vail, Oh Vail won't you let them boys go?
There's a mother crying somewhere up in San Antonio
I know that star you wear leads those people to their king
But it don't sound like angels when that Colt begins to sing

And Vail said
"I got 6 in this revolver here, for anyone without the fear of waking up tomorrow full of lead"
"And I got 4 more in my Tommy, gonna end up in you son, you don't come out with your hands above your head"

Oh Vail, Oh Vail won't you let them boys go?
There's a mother crying somewhere up in San Antonio
I know that star you wear leads those people to their king
But it don't sound like angels when that Colt begins to sing

As soon as Vail had called it out, the answer from inside the house found its way inside him, burning hot
And so onto his knees he fell, the jagged blade of God himself, left out in that Pettus dirt to rot
This is the gift you've been given, this is the work you've received
This is the truth you must know in yourself
Rise or submit, its your choice, came a voice

Covered head to foot in red and silver, he came up behind the older of the two
Nothing ever looked quite like, the way his eyes gave up their light, when he saw a dead man in the room
And he screamed "God ain't changed his ways since Noah built that boat, its just that now he uses bullets 'stead of floods"

Oh Vail, Oh Vail you can't let them boys go
There's a mother crying softly up in San Antonio
I know that star you wear lead those people to their king
But it don't sound like like angels when that Colt begins to sing