Pretty Boy Floyd

Country Joe McDonald

Come gather round me children,

A story I will tell

About Pretty Boy Floyd the outlaw,

Oklahoma knew him well.



It was in the town of Shawnee,

It was a Saturday afternoon,

His wife beside him in the wagon

As into town they rode.



There a deputy sheriff approached him

In a manner rather rude

Using vulgar words of language

And his wife she overheard.



Pretty Boy grabbed a log chain

And the deputy grabbed a gun

And in the fight that followed

He laid that deputy down.



Then he took to the trees and timbers

And he lived a life of shame,

Every crime in Oklahoma

Was added to his name.



Yes he took to the trees and timbers

On that Canadian River's shore

And Pretty Boy found a welcome

At many a farmer's door.



There's many a starving farmer

The same old story told

How the outlaw paid their mortgage

And saved their little home.



Mothers tell you 'bout a stranger

That came to beg a meal

And underneath his napkin

Left a thousand dollar bill.



Now as through the world I ramble

I see lots of funny men

Some will rob you with a six-gun

Some with a fountain pen.



But as through life you travel,

Yes, as through life you roam,

You'll never see an outlaw

Drive a family from their home.