"What I care about you little babies, your darlin' lovin' wife?
You done stole my Stetson hat, I'm bound to take your life."
That bad man, cruel Stagger Lee
“Boom-boom, boom-boom,” went the forty-four
When I spied Billy de Lyon, he was lyin' down on the floor
That bad man, oh cruel Stagger Lee
"Gentlemen of the jury, what do you think of that?
Stagger Lee killed Billy de Lyon about a five-dollar Stetson hat."
That bad man, oh, cruel Stagger Lee.
And all they gathered, hands way up high,
At twelve o'clock they killed him, they's all glad to see him die
That bad man, oh, cruel Stagger Lee