It tells the story of the 1895 killing of Billy Lyons by Lee Shelton in St. Louis.
The words
A gambler kills a man over a hat and passes into legend.
The ballad retells the 1895 St. Louis killing of Billy Lyons by Lee Shelton, the man remembered as Stack a Lee. A quarrel over a hat turns deadly when Stack a Lee shoots Billy, who begs to be spared for the sake of his family. The story then follows the killer into the hands of the law, while the song turns him into a legend, part villain and part folk hero. Dylan performs it alone with acoustic guitar in a steady, unhurried telling.
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗Listen
The words
A gambler kills a man over a hat and passes into legend.
The ballad retells the 1895 St. Louis killing of Billy Lyons by Lee Shelton, the man remembered as Stack a Lee. A quarrel over a hat turns deadly when Stack a Lee shoots Billy, who begs to be spared for the sake of his family. The story then follows the killer into the hands of the law, while the song turns him into a legend, part villain and part folk hero. Dylan performs it alone with acoustic guitar in a steady, unhurried telling.
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗Connections
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The same year · 1993
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