Verse 1

He rode west through the dust for a pocket full of gold,

Cobbled John had a hard grin and a heart gone cold.

Panther loved him once by the riverbed pine,

Till Tom came calling with a smooth-talking line.

Chorus

Oh, John, what have you done?

Now the long road’s closed and the law’s begun.

You hired a killer, let the whole town know,

And Tom fell quiet where the black creeks flow.

Verse 2

Panther wrote her statement with a trembling hand,

The judge gave John eight years behind iron and sand.

He learned the prison code, kept his word, kept still,

Came out with a name that could bend a man’s will.

Chorus

Oh, John, what have you done?