Mister Jack
He hung around the bars in town
An’ sometimes in the jail
No one cared about his problems –
Nobody paid his bail.
His life went on without much change
He just got pushed aside
Then one day in fifty seven
We saw his other side.
That mornin’ he woke up sober
He shaved an’ combed his hair
Pressed his pants an’ shined his boots
An’ breathed the mornin’ air.
No one knew what got into him
He’s always up an’ down
But he knew what had woke him up
The rodeo’s in town
Bulls and Bronc’s to ride, calves to rope
There was so much to do
He signed his name to do ‘em all
An’ felt himself brand new.
The cowboys seemed to know him well
An’ slapped him on the back
We’d always called him “Rummy Joe”-
They called him Mister Jack.
We all watched with eyes wide open
As he won three of four –
An’ won the “All Around” of course
We were stunned to the core.
I stopped a cowboy by the gate
An’ asked about his friend
He hadn’t seen him for awhile
Didn’t know where he’d been.
They’d rodeo’d for fifteen years
Goin’ from town to town
He was a champion ‘til his wife
Ran off with Chuck the Clown.
Well he caught up with Chuck the Clown
Down by the Rio Grande
He shot him until he got tired –
Buried him in the sand.
The judge who tried him for the deed
Traveled from town to town
He loved to watch the rodeo
But hated all the clowns
So Mister Jack got thirty days
Clown’s gal could only frown
The judge said justice had been served
The Jack shot the clown
So that’s the tale of Mister Jack
He’s up but once was down
You’ll notice when he rides the bull
There ain’t no clown around
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