Don Edwards - Angels Can Do No More lyrics

We laid young Sammy to his rest Dug a deep hole, then we did our best To say the right things as we knocked the dirt from the shovel So far from God so near to a life of trouble No more than a boy when he died like a man We stood around his grave with our hats in our hands Leanin' first on one foot and then on the other Wishin' we'd a-knowed what to say to write to his mother But there ain't much to say when a man dies young Before he can do what he should have done Leastways, the cowboys that knowed him swore "Sammy done his damnedest, angels can do no more" We stared at our boots, and nobody spoke 'Til the trail boss coughed, and cleared his throat And said to the cook, "Tear a plank off the chuckwagon And bring it here to mark the grave of our young companion" So the wranglers made a fire out of dry prairie coal The wind fanned the flames 'til the brandin' irons glowed Then we burned in the wood the words we should'a been sayin' Down on our knees like a bunch of growed men a-prayin' But there ain't much to say when a man dies young Before he can do what he should have done Leastways, the cowboys that knowed him swore "Sammy done his damnedest, angels can do no more" Now, Sammy rode hard and never complained Two long years on the Rockin' Chair range Chasin' them strays down the Salt Fork of the Red River Angels' and cowboys' work, it goes on forever And as for myself, when it's my turn to die I hope there's a cowhand or two standing' by To pack down the dirt and carry the news to the family And say over me what we should'a said over Sammy But there ain't much to say when a man dies young Before he can do what he should have done Leastways, the cowboys that knowed him swore "Sammy done his damnedest, angels can do no more" No, there ain't much to say when a man dies young Before he can do what he should have done Leastways, the cowboys that knowed him swore "Sammy done his damnedest and angels can do no more"