In a small town in Nevada
lived a man named Joe McCoy,
he never touched a bottle,
never bothered or annoyed.
He was a dark-haired bean-pole,
rarely even shot the bull,
the only thing said about him
was that he was always moral.
In fact Joe was so square that
folks didn’t even use his name,
they all called him ‘Moral McCoy,’
born without hint of blame.
Moral tipped his hats to the ladies
whenever they passed by,
and whenever he talked to you
he always met your eye.
He did the work of two men,
had no trouble with the law,
always went to chapel on Sunday
to give his due to God.
Yes, he was a good man,
to all he was quite fair,
but one man hated Moral,
the hired gun ‘Spike’ Kildare.
Something about quiet Moral
always rubbed Spike the wrong way,
and his dislike came to a head
one dreary, April day.
Spike stormed into Carol’s restaurant
with the roar of an angry man,
said,”McCoy get your damn sheep
off Boss Taylor’s gazing lands”
Moral had finished eating
snd said,”I’d be glad too.”
but before he could get up,
a Bowie knife Kildare drew.
He advanced on Moral slowly,
menace cold in his words:
“This is the fourth time it’s happened,
I think now you need to learn.
“The boss don’t like freeloaders
grazing damn sheep in his yards,
you’ll remember that from now on
every time you see your scars.”
Spike continued forwards,
meaning to carve Moral red,
So Moral pulled his thirty-eight
and shot Spike through the head.
Spike’s two partners stood gaping,
their faces white and stunned,
Moral said,”Who’ll be next?
Or would you prefer to run?”
They took off in a hurry,
were half-way to the Utah line
by the time Sherrif Blane
was able to stop by.
He looked down at the body,
said,”Moral, what have you done?”
“Defended myself,”Moral spoke,
“Just the same as any one.”
Sheriff could not beleive it,
Said,”Didn\'t expect this from you.”
A flash of anger stirred Moral,
“Then let me say a thing or two!
“You all call me ‘Moral,’
to the point that it’s a joke
do you think it’s very moral
to just sit back and croak?
“These bastards came after me,
should I just sit and wait?
Is it moral for a good man
to surrender to others’ hate?
“They say to turn the other cheek,
good advice when you can,
but my life is a gift from God
to be taken by no man.
“And though it seems so brutal,
Spike laid out, covered in red,
if he hadn’t tried to murder me
he would not now be dead!
“We all must make our choices,
and pay for every one,
but the most moral thing I ever did
was drawing my damn gun!”
With that he stormed off angry,
none dared to block his way,
“It was an act of self-defense,”
all the witnesses did say.
Quite soon after his nickname
just seemed to disappear,
some said it was newfound respect,
mixed with a dash of fear.
And from that day onward,
they said of this moral man:
“Don’t push the good ones to the brink,
or they’ll kill you where you stand.”