I came to town to search for gold   And I brought with me a memory   And I seem to hear the night wind cry,   "Go hang your dreams on the hangin' tree   Your dreams of love that could never be   Hang your faded dreams on the hangin' tree!"      I searched tor gold and I found my gold   And I found a girl who loved just me   And I wished that I could love her too   But I'd left my heart on the hangin' tree   I'd left my heart with a memory   And a faded dream on the hangin' tree.      Now there were men who craved my gold   And meant to take my gold from me   When a man is gone he needs no gold   So they carried me to the hangin' tree   To join my dreams and a memory   Yes they carried me to the hangin' tree.      To really live you must almost die   And it happened just that way with me   They took the gold and set me free   And I walked away from the hangin' tree   I walked away from the hangin' tree   And my own true love, she walked with me!      That's when I knew that the hangin' tree   Was a tree of life, new life for me   A tree of hope, new hope for me   A tree of love, new love tor me   The hangin' tree, the hangin' tree, the hangin' tree!