I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
In the days of William Bonney better known as Bill The Kid
A young cowboy named Joey Steel was 'bout to make his bid
Well, he heard one day that Bill The Kid had just rode into town
And if he could take him he would be the fastest gun around
He was just a kid of seventeen but he had a lightin' hand
And he said it's time I showed the world that I've become a man
Everyone thinks Billy is the fastest gun around
But they will know I'm faster when they see me shoot him down
They finally came together down on Main Street just at five
The people were all gathered wonderin' who'd be left alive
Billy knew that Joey wanted notches on his gun
And he wished that he could give him those he'd carved upon his own
Joey's hand went to his side, he was sure that he had won
But before he even fired he saw the smoke of Billy's gun
And he felt the bullet hit him hard and before his eyes he saw
His wasted life pass quickly ending with this fatal draw
Billy breathed more easily and he put away his gun
And he tried to ease his conscience for the wrong that he had done
Then he saddled up his horse and headed Westward out of town
And he wondered just how long he'd be the fastest gun around
A young cowboy named Joey Steel was 'bout to make his bid
Well, he heard one day that Bill The Kid had just rode into town
And if he could take him he would be the fastest gun around
He was just a kid of seventeen but he had a lightin' hand
And he said it's time I showed the world that I've become a man
Everyone thinks Billy is the fastest gun around
But they will know I'm faster when they see me shoot him down
They finally came together down on Main Street just at five
The people were all gathered wonderin' who'd be left alive
Billy knew that Joey wanted notches on his gun
And he wished that he could give him those he'd carved upon his own
Joey's hand went to his side, he was sure that he had won
But before he even fired he saw the smoke of Billy's gun
And he felt the bullet hit him hard and before his eyes he saw
His wasted life pass quickly ending with this fatal draw
Billy breathed more easily and he put away his gun
And he tried to ease his conscience for the wrong that he had done
Then he saddled up his horse and headed Westward out of town
And he wondered just how long he'd be the fastest gun around
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