Fool Me Once

(album: Fireside With Louis L'amour - 2021)

I was up there in the hills and I'd been out there for a while
Stubborn as a soldier chipping steady at the stone
Time up there was good to me, the proof in my packsaddle
It held three pokes of gold that I was proud to call my own

I came upon some strangers one half step away from dead
I couldn't leave em dying so I gave them what I could
We were sitting round the fire when he snuck around behind me
Landed me a blow that sent me early to my bed

Fool me once shame on you
Fool me twice if you want to
I'll get you in the end I am a shadow of this land
Folks call me the man from bitter sands

They left me lying for dead roughly a hundred miles from nowhere
They left me there for dead and took the bread right from my hands
Well the desert feeds a desperate man if he knows just where to find it
Tucked among the canyons and hidden in the sands

I finally tracked em down way out in Tucson, Arizona
I found him at a table, pair of queens tucked in his hand
I took claim to his winnings when his partner came behind me
Put one in my back and left me lying as they as ran

Fool me once shame on you
Fool me twice if you want to
I'll get you in the end I am a shadow of this land
Folks call me the man from bitter sands

I was bedfast for a while but I would soon be in the saddle
A ghost among the mountains weighing heavy on their trail
They were sitting round the fire when I snuck around behind them
Just a cunning loner, but how were they to tell

I split them in the night, they turned their backs on one another
One took off with the gold and I pursued him from behind
His horse went lame at canyon rim and I took back what he owed me
Didn't take a gun to kill him, as I turned away to ride

Fool me once shame on you
Fool me twice if you want to
I'll get you in the end I am a shadow of this land
Folks call me the man from bitter sands