10/25/2016 , , , ,
Sting - I Hung My Head
Sting - I Hung My Head


Sting - I Hung My Head Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Mercury Falling
Released: 1996

I Hung My Head Lyrics


Early one morning with time to kill
I borrowed Jeb's rifle and sat on the hill
I saw a lone rider crossing the plain
I drew a bread on him to practice my aim
My brother's rifle went off in my hand
A shot rang out across the land
The horse he kept running the rider was dead
I Hung My Head, I hung my head
I hung my head, I hung my head

I set off running to wake from the dream
My brother's rifle went into the stream
I kept on running into the salt lands
And that's where they found me, my head in my hands
The sheriff he asked me "Why had I run"
Then it came to me just what I had done
And all for no reason, just one piece of lead
I hung my head, I hung my head
I hung my head, I hung my head

Here in the courthouse, the whole town is there
I see the judge high up in his chair
"Explain to the courtroom what went through your mind
And we'll ask the jury what verdict they find"
I said "I felt the power of death over life
I orphaned his children I widowed his wife
I beg their forgiveness I wish I was dead"
I hung my head, I hung my head
I hung my head, I hung my head

Early one morning with time to kill
I see the gallows up on the hill
And out in the distance a trick of the brain
I see a lone rider crossing the plain
He's come to fetch me to see what they done
We'll ride together 'til Kingdom come
I pray for God's mercy for soon I'll be dead
I hung my head, I hung my head
I hung my head, I hung my head

Writer/s: GORDON SUMNER
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

I Hung My Head
  • In this song, a man grabs his brother's rifle to practice his aim. The gun accidentally goes off and kills a lone rider, and the shooter panics, runs off and throws the rifle into a stream. The song goes on to explain the verdict and how bad he felt and his plea for forgiveness. In the end, it is time for his own death, while the lone rider and him ride together to "kingdom come." It has much more of a Country/Bluegrass sound than most of Sting's songs.
  • Johnny Cash recorded this on his 2002 album American IV, The Man Comes Around. Careful listeners will notice Cash sings the lyric "My brother's rifle went into the stream" as "My brother's rifle went into the sheen," and the next line changes "salt lands" to "south lands." Sting assumes this came from a misprint but was nevertheless "so proud to hear my words and music interpreted by 'the master,'" he wrote in Lyrics By Sting.
  • "I wrote my version of the song in 9/8," Sting noted in Lyrics By Sting. "The guitar riff just occurred to me that way and reminded me of the gait of a galloping horse dragging a corpse. The story of a terrible accident, guilt, and redemption materialized out of the title and out of the haunting image of a riderless horse."
  • Johnny Cash's version was prominently featured in the sixth season premiere of The Shield and in the 2011 movie The Green Hornet.