It’s time to put an end
To the myth of Jesse James
A cold, blue eyed killer
Unlike most of the claims
A confederate guerilla
At the age of sixteen
His exploits were ruthless
Extremely savage and mean
He was mentored by bushwackers
Who were not afraid to kill
He was also tutored by a man
That they called Bloody Bill
The loss of the civil war
Caused bitterness and spite
The James gang not finished
Giving up the confederate fight
All of their victims had met
A wretched, unspeakable fate
Shooting them was not enough
Their knives were tools of hate
Their tactics were repulsive
They took ears and toes
Disemboweled and scalped
Left the bodies without clothes
The south hailed him a hero
Always met with their applause
They claimed that the butchery
Was all part of the cause
Farmers, sheriffs, and citizens
Enabled them to fight
Supplied with food, and horses
They often hid in plain sight
Safe harbor was given to them
By rebels and the Klan
They tried to keep him safe
An extremely wanted man
The Centralia massacre
Which caused the north to grieve
Those 24 union soldiers
Headed home on a leave
This bloodbath had occurred
Aboard a northbound train
They were ambushed while unarmed
And in cold blood they were slain
Some other victims were lawmen,
Bank tellers and clerks
The James gang not finished
They had much more in the works
Many plans to continue robbing
Had a lot more up their sleeves
With bluster Jesse once said
“We aren’t ordinary thieves”
One day they knocked over
And held up a Minnesota bank
The only two to get away
Were brothers Jesse and Frank
Missouri governor finally had it
At long last he made a stand
Jesse wanted dead or alive
The reward was five grand
Once the boys came across
A very unwelcome guest
Shot this detective dead as dirt
And pinned a note on his chest
Their mother had their backs
Helped supply them with guns
She was quoted as saying
“There were no finer sons”
During the Pinkerton raid
At the home of Jesse’s mom
Her arm was taken off
By a bounty hunter’s bomb
All of these close escapes
Only added to his fame
And increased all the hunters
Who wanted stake to the claim
Frank became a family man
He retired on a farm
Had a wife and children
No longer causing harm
Jesse on the other hand
Was not close to being done
He did this for the money
But he also found it fun
He attempted some normalcy
Had a farm, a kid, a wife
But Jesse being Jesse
Just couldn’t give up the life
If Jesse were in a modern gang
He’d definitely be the guy
Tattoos running down his face
20 teardrops from the eye
The end was getting closer
The walls were closing in
The time was ripe and ready
To remove this outlaw’s grin
A member of his own gang
Who went by the name of Ford
Jesse turned to fix a picture
And took two bullets to his gourd