it was early early one mornin boys i heard that fool dog bark he was barkin at the two men who were gamblin in the dark it was stagolee billy lion boys they were gamblin that early day yeah they tossed up that seven billy lion told him the easy way stagolee lost all his money lost his new cadilac he said i believe your cheatin don t be here when i get back stagolee went home he knocked up on his woman s door he said wake up little bertha baby hand me my forty four you know bertha rose out of bed screamin she was lookin him dead smack in the eye she said come on in honey i can see some poor man s gonna die then stagolee told bertha that he had lost his new cadilic but he believed billy was cheatin she knew he wouldn t go for that stagolee went back on the corner stood up in the barroom door he said don t nobody move cuz i got me my forty four stagolee cried billy he shot the poor boy so fast the bullet went through billy it broke the bartenders glass then billy lion started screamin i heard him say stagolee don t take my life you know i got two little children a poor little old sickly wife stagolee told billy yeah i know you got a cute little boy girl if you want to see your family billy you ll have to meet em in another world