Loving County

Well, I loved a girl
She lived out in Pecos, and pretty as she could be
And I worked the rigs on out in Odessa
To give her whatever she needs

But that girl, she run with an oil company bum
'Cause the diamond was not on her hand
And he left her soon 'neath the big loving moon
To go out and X-ray the land

Now I sit in my car at the New Rainbow Bar downtown
And the frost on the windshield shines toward the sky
Like a thousand tiny diamonds in the lights of loving county

Well, l walked in that bar and I drank myself crazy
Thinking about her and that man
When in walked a woman, looking richer than sin
And ten years worth of work on her hand

Well, I followed her home and when she was alone
Well, I put my gun to her head
And I don't recall what happened next at all
But now that rich woman, she is dead

Now I drive down the highway
Ten miles from my sweet baby's arms
And the moon is so bright it don't look like night
And the diamond how it sparkles in the lights of loving county

But she opened that door and I knelt on the floor
And I put that ring in her hand
Then she said, "I do" and she'd leave with me soon
To the rigs out in South Alabama

Well, I told her to hide that ring there inside
And wait 'til the timing was good
And I drove back home and I was alone
'Cause I thought that she understood

The next night an old friend just called me to wish us both well
He said, he'd seen her downtown, sashaying around
And her diamond how it sparkled in the lights of loving county

Well that sheriff, he found me out wandering
All around El Paso the very next day
You see, I'd lost my mind on that broken white line
Before I even reached Balmorhea

Well, now she's in Fort Worth and she's just giving birth
To the son of that oil company man
And they buried that poor old sheriff's dead wife
With the ring that I stole on her hand

And sometimes they let me look up at that East Texas sky
And the rain on the pines, oh Lord, how it shines
Like my darling's little diamond in the lights of loving county