My daddy told me "boy, you only shoot to kill"
I'm livin' just for that thrill
Nobody hurts me 'cos the payback's twice as bad
In this town you don't make a man mad

* ted mckinley's dying
At the wheel of his truck
The engine running till it seized up
And nobody heard a thing
Not a shout or gun shot ring
Just a smell of diesel in the dust
(diesel in the dust)

Mckinley wouldn't back down from any man alive
But you need to if you're to survive
The folks in town wanna settle their score
By using their own kinda law

* repeat

[instrumental]

No one had seen a thing when the sheriff's car pulled in
Just the silence you get from kin to kin
The preacher bowed his head, glad that he was dead
And the better the least that was said

* repeat

In this town there was a man out on his own
With no account of how he stood alone
Nobody hear a thing, not a shout or gun shot ring
Just the smell of diesel in the dust
Diesel in the dust