He was tougher than leather   And he didn't care whether   The sun shined or not   When a young kid from cow town   Wanted a showdown and he was careless or just maybe forgot      But he died in the gun fight   Blinded by sunlight   Never draw when you're facing' the sun   And old tougher than leather   Just carved one more notch on his gun      And when he turned to go   The beautiful maiden knelt down   Where her dead sweetheart lay   And on his breast, placed a rose   While the town's people stared in dismay      And old tougher than leather   Should've known better   But he picked up the rose in his hand   And the town's people froze   When his hands crushed the rose and the rose petals fell in the sand      And old tougher than leather   Was a full-time go-getter   The grass never grew beneath his feet   From one town to another   He would ride like the wind but his mind kept going back to the street      Where a young cowboy died   And a young maiden cried   And rose petals fell in the sand   And his heart had been softened   By the beautiful maid and he knew he must see her again      Well, he went back to the town   Where it all had come down   And he searched but his search was in vain   He had wanted to find her and say he was sorry   For causing her heart so much pain      But one night he died   From a poison inside   Brought on by the wrong he had done   And old tougher than leather   Had carved his last notch on his gun      Well he was buried in cow town   Along about sundown   Lookin' good in his new store-bought clothes   When the young maiden came over   And knelt down beside him and on his lapel placed a rose      There's a bird in the sky   Flying high, flying high   To a place from a place   Changing skies, changing skies