Cover art for Billy the Kid by Dia Frampton

Billy the Kid

Dia Frampton
Track 6 on Red 
Sep. 6, 20111 viewer

Billy the Kid Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Now once upon a time when the West was old
A ma saw her son was a sight to behold
He could shoot his daddy's gun like a straight arrow
He wrestled with the rattlesnakes before he walked
Ya, he grew up fast with a hardened grit
And he had the pluck and he had the wit
Ya his mamma called him William till he up and quit
And in these here parts he's known as Billy the Kid

[Verse 2]
I've had you in my sights, my arms for so long
Where did you go? I didn't know
I've been around here waiting for so long, so long
And I'll wait for you

[Verse 3]
He was as tough as nails, barging in the saloon
Missing an eye, gun glowed in the moon
He called out to the crowd, "I don't want no fuss
See, I'm looking for a runaway, who looks like this!"
And he slammed the paper down, it was covered in dust
But the crowd kept silent, sure, he looked real tough
But they knew the portrait well, and they knew not to
Mess with Billy the Kid and his gang of thugs

[Verse 4]
I've had you in my sights, my arms for so long
Where did you go? I didn't know
I've been around here waiting for so long, so long
And I'll wait for you
And I'll wait for you

[Verse 5]
The sheriff knocked on the door of a pretty girl
Tipped his hat, said, "We gotta have a look around
We'll give you cash if you tip off the fugitive."
She bit her lip, she was in love and acted clueless
He grabbed her arm and said, "We heard you been a harborin'
Give him up, I give my word I'll keep your name clean."
She steered 'em clear of the cracks in the floorboards and
Said, "You'll never find him, you'll never find him!"

[Verse 6]
I've had you in my sights, my arms for so long
Where did you go? I didn't know
I've been around here waiting for so long, so long
And I'll wait for you
And I'll wait for you

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

This song bio is unreviewed
Genius Annotation

Dia on her blog:

“Picture a sunshine man. A happy, go lucky, creative, funny person with blonde hair and bright eyes. His name is Isom Innis. He is the keyboard player for Foster the People. I met Isom a few years ago, way before "The Voice.” We got together from time to time and wrote songs and chatted and created. He’s just overall an inspiring person/musician to be around. When it came time to write for the album, I called him up. “Let’s get together and write! Let’s just see what happens.” I went over to his cozy apartment in Silver lake, CA. He said, “Come in, come in…I’m just..uh, working on a track…it’s like a spaghetti western…reminds me of cowboys,sit, want water? Ya good? Check it out…” Isom gets really REALLY excited over music (which is why he’s awesome to work with) and kind of reminds me of a mad scientist when working on songs. He played me an intro to a song he had been working on. There was no melody or lyrics. He started dancing around the room with his guitar, playing the song really loud and yelling over it, “I think we could add in some really cool tambourine here!” And then he’d pick up an acoustic guitar and start dancing again. I sat down on his couch, opened up my journal, and started writing away. It did remind me of a western….I thought back on my favorite movies. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Clint Eastwood. Doc Holliday. Calamity Jane. Kit Carson the sharpshooter. I started dancing too on the couch and started writing a story….. I love writing stories. We recorded vocals that night in Isom’s living room (same vocal tracks on the actual record. Sometimes the “demo” vocal is the best!) Then we wrote a chorus which made our feet wanna move. We gave it a few weeks, thought on it. Isom showed it to Mark Foster while they were on tour together. He had a great idea for the chorus and also added some fun instrumentation. It was a pleasure to work with them. This song was….fun to write…and now fun to listen to while I’m dancing in my car and almost crashing into the poor lady next to me. "

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Credits
Percussion
Background Vocals
Release Date
September 6, 2011
Tags
Comments