As I write this letter to you, Darlin' I can't hold the teardrops from my eyes For at sundown I will lay a-dyin' At the door of the Fool's Paradise Rode into this cattle town this morning Left my bearer to check the market price And I walked into the nearest bar room They call it the Fool's Paradise There the crowd was gay and girls were dancing And the men were playing cards and dice So I stepped up to the bar to join them What a grand place, this Fool's Paradise It was then I showed to them your picture I passed it around once or twice Then a man insulted your sweet honour At the bar of the Fool's Paradise So I slapped his face and I told him,I said, "You eat them words, Mister, or draw, that's my advice" And he said, "Well somebody might get hurt inside, But I'll be glad to meet you in the street at sundown, At sundown in front of the Fool's Paradise" So goodbye my darlin', may God bless you I go to make this sacrifice And if ever you visit old Dodge City Remember the Fool's Paradise