Shepherd's Song

I left my home in the year of '21
 Blamed for the killin', a crime I had not done
 I'll live no more in Texas but the hills of Tennessee
 Goodbye wife and children, never more to see
 On the banks of the river a shepherd's wages paid
 Shelter food and clothing, honest work each day
 At night I hear their voices sayin' "where have you gone?
 Pa we're cold and hungry, don't let us be alone."
 But I cannot go back, I'll not return
 There's a hangman waiting, a sheriff's warrant served
 And if I was a freeman in the state that I was born
 I'd go home to Texas never more to roam
 In the seventh season the fates came to me
 Sayin' "your love has remarried and you must let her be
 The children they are taken care though never you will see."
 Damn the man who cursed that land, never I'll be free
 But I cannot go back, I'll not return
 There's a hangman waiting, a sheriff's warrant served
 And if I was a freeman in the state that I was born
 I'd go home to Texas never more to roam
 Sunshine stirrin', youth but a memory
 A letter came to my door though I could not read
 Said "the man who done the killin', he has now confessed
 Truth came from a death bed, your case is now dismissed."
 But I cannot go back, I'll not return
 There's no one waiting, memories unearned
 And if I was a young man in the state that I was born
 I'd go home to Texas never more to roam
 I'd go home to Texas never more to roam