As I write this letter to you darling I can't hold the teardrops from my eyes For at sundown I will lay a dying 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 barroom 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 honor At the bar of the Fool's Paradise. So I slapped his face and I told him I said you eat 'em words Mister or draw that's my advice And he said well somebody might get hurty 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 darling may God bless you I go to make this sacrifice And if ever you visit old Dodge City Remember the Fool's Paradise...