Marty Robbins Follow

A long time ago
In the small border town of Nogales
There lived a beautiful Mexican girl
Named Ava Maria Morales

Her dark hair would glisten and shine
When touched by the sun
And she loved a cowboy that told her
He worked on a ranch just outside of Tucson

Diamonds he gave to her
Caused many people to say
How could he give her such diamonds
As these on thirty a month cowboy pay

She paid no attention to what they said
Or what they did
'Cause she never doubted
he worked on a ranch out of Tucson, just like he said

Then to Nogales one morning
Came ridin' a stranger
He wore a badge on the front of his vest
The new one in town was a ranger

And he showed some pictures
Of outlaws and bandits he chased
And one of the pictures caused Ava Maria
To turn with fear on her face

Ava Maria, it's true
What they said
Your cowboy's an outlaw
With a price on his head

The ranger left town on the trail
Of the outlaws he hunted
Ava Maria prayed he'd never catch the cowboy
She loved and she wanted

'Cause deep in her heart she believed
That the ranger was wrong
The outlaw just looked like the cowboy
That worked on the ranch just outside of Tucson

True love would never let Ava Maria believe it
And there in her window each evening
She'd light a candle
And hope he would see it

The years turned her dark hair to silver
But love still lived on
She prayed every night for the cowboy
That worked on the ranch just outside of Tucson

One night the town of Nogales
Was saddened to see
The window where Ava Maria would watch
Was dark where a light used to be

Some love stories live for a while
And then they are gone
For over a century the story of Ava Maria
Has lived on and on

Ava Maria, it's your spirit lives on
I hope you have found him
At the ranch just outside of Tucson