The Ballad of Ed Cantrell
Verse 1:
There's a whole lot of holes in Sweetwater County
The jackrabbits and the coyotes run
The Red Desert rolls on forever
Blood red in the settin' sun
The marijuana and the cocaine highway
Federales couldn't keep it clean
State troopers start off the right way
But big money's just a lawman's dream

Chorus:
And there's a whole lot of holes in Sweetwater County
One lone deputy upheld the law
He was a black-belt in Quan Do Karate
And a master of the old quick draw
He gave 'em hell
Ed Cantrell

Verse 2:
Was a long drive down to the Silver Dollar Bar
He said take it slow Sargeant Callas you drive
He saw a crooked smile in the rear view mirror
Or he might have made it home alive
But as Rosa reached down for his ankle gun
Cantrell saw the flash through the thunder head sky
He was spitten lead before the crash of thunder
A thirty-eight special right between the eyes

Chorus:
And there's a whole lot of holes in Sweetwater County
One lone deputy upheld the law
He was a black-belt in Quan Do Karate
And a master of the old quick draw
He gave 'em hell
Ed Cantrell

Verse 3:
The jury found Ed Cantrell not guilty
Though some say he should've died in jail
He went back to Sweetwater County
Ready to take on the whole cartel

The cattle rustlers and the low-dive dealers
Sweat bullets when they heard his name
The money and drugs quit runnin'
He was one for the lawman hall-of-fame

Chorus:
And there's a whole lot of holes in Sweetwater County
One lone deputy upheld the law
He was a black-belt in Quan Do Karate
And a master of the old quick draw
He gave 'em hell
Ed Cantrell
Verse 4:
So to all of you criminals and two-bit outlaws
You drug runners and murderin' thieves
You might go scott-free in this life
But you better watch out when you leave

Cause if you're headed where the brimstone burns and boils
At the hot, black, gapin' jaws of hell
There's a five-star standin' with a thirty-eight pistol
It's gold-badge deputy Ed Cantrell

Chorus:
And there's a whole lot of holes in Sweetwater County
One lone deputy upheld the law
He was a black-belt in Quan Do Karate
And a master of the old quick draw
He gave 'em hell
Ed Cantrell