Vera flew the coop when she was only soft sixteen
She hopped the first and fastest train with some lousy libertine
He'd spun a pretty story and he'd stole away her youth
And everyone was shocked, 'cuz Vera always told the truth
Oh, her slip surprised 'em all, 'cuz Vera always told the truth
Oh, but Vera dumped that lyin' lout in the dust behind the train
He'd angled for a child, but he caught a heartless hurricane
He wasn't worth a bullet; she just pushed him off the side
And she thanked him for her freedom — she was eternally polite
Oh, Vera thanked him for his trouble, cuz she was nothin' but polite
Li li li li...
Vera ran with lawless men who trembled when she talked
She never flinched, she never smiled, and her gun was always cocked
By twenty-one she'd terrorized the whole of the frontier
They feared her fateful justice, for they knew Vera was sincere
Oh, they ran from Vera's posse cuz she was perfectly sincere
Vera rode alone the whole of her ferocious life
She never met a boy she didn't think deserved the knife
Not a one of them was worthy in her steady steely eyes
Cuz they all fronted for their flaws, and Vera always sneered at lies
Yes, she found all men were liars, and Vera couldn't live with lies
Li li li li...
It was not till Vera's dying day her hard heart met desire
For the man who shot her through was the only man she could admire
That mortal wound awoke in her a fire no balm could soothe –
She said, "I think I love you," and Vera always told the truth
As she died, she said, "I love you," and Vera always told the truth
Li li li li...