Oh brother let me take my rest And leave this wild and wicked west Where the river runs red with blood Until it all dries up and turns to mud I heard you shot a lawman down At a card game south of Oakland town A Russell city marshall dead All the California papers read You know by now they've seen your face Dead or alive it's a thousand dollar race With dust in your eyes it's hard to see Oh brother I come to take you home with me Well it didn't seem that long ago You were breaking ground in Calico But a miner's life just wouldn't hold For a gamblers heart will never fold Yeah so you headed out to 'Frisco bay Where the miner's gambled all their pay But you're never one to settle down You just dealt your hand from town to town A gamblers heart is bound to roam Wherever you hang your hat is home If I ever leave this broken land I'll be headed home for Alabama Where the honeysuckle smells so sweet And the moonshine knocks you off your feet I dreaming out of my bellows bed And a feathered pillow 'neath my head And I say a prayer for my brother Jack 'Cause I know now he ain't coming back I know right now it's plain to see Oh brother I only want you to be free With dust in your eyes it's hard to see And rust in your skies it's hard to breathe Oh brother I only want you to be free Oh brother I only want you to be free Oh brother let me take my rest And leave this wild and wicked west