
Song Info
Genre
Charts
#187 in subgenre
Peak #1
Charts
Peak #6
Author
Tom Tognaci
Rights
2011
Uploaded
January 13, 2017
Track Files
MP3
MP3 5.9 MB • 160 kbps • 5:10
Story behind the song
The rain came down in buckets, all day long, and pooled in the deep muddy tracks
left by the horses and wagons used by the towns people to get them routinely across and down the main street.
It continued to rain hard into the December night. And while most of the towns people of Big Whiskey were in their beds, or huddled by their fireplaces, the Oak Board saloon was still open for business.
Inside, a slouched figure sat, alone and unassuming.
His coat was buttoned high, and his hat was pulled down, hiding the murderous eyes of a man of distinct notoriety.
Oblivious of the other patrons in the saloon, he sat motionless;
but, for the slow and deliberate mechanics of his libation.
Round upon round, he detached himself, as the liquor poured over his mind, dulling this nights venture as a mere diluted and distant memory.
And, after what hed done; he thought, hed best be leaving this town..
come morning, theyll be looking for someone to hang, for sure.
He downed his last whiskey, paused, then thought,
Better than I use to be..The Ballad of William Munny by Tom Tognaci
Lyrics
Better Than I Used To Be
By Tom Tognaci
V1
He started off a preachers only boy
The only time, in his life, he knew joy
But a gun brought his daddy down
On some dirt street in Illinois
He stood scared while he watched his father bleed
Picking up the six-gun at his feet
He aimed to have his vengeance there
But was too young to do the deed
He hung his little head in shame
And cried the tears no one could read
And while the church bells rung,
And while a choir sung
He swore, to himself, that hed be,
Better than I used to be
V2
From the everglades to the desert sands
He turned outlaw, wanted, in the badlands
Some say the demons in his head
Fanned the fury of his hands
Yeah, the last thing Sheriff Dillon saw
Was the blur of his right hand
And while the church bells rung,
And while a choir sung
...A tattoo on his right hand reads,
Better than I used to be
V3
Its a mystery thats still misunderstood
Its a story of how the bad was turned to good
Where a woman gave her heart to
The man whod steal it, if he could
He was an outlaw, hardened by his trade
And the deal with the devil he had made
Some say she bartered her own soul
Others say, its how she prayed
Some say she was an angel
Explaining why he seemed afraid
And the church bells rung,
And the choir sung
he promised her, that day, hed be,
Better than I used to be
V4
He earned the reputation as a thief,
A scoundrel who would lie right through his teeth
But, in that church, a miracle
Had turned over a fresh new leaf
Now, its said, he disappeared in ole Paris
But, its whispered that he died inTennessee
Where its rumored that his headstone reads,
Better than I used to be