The Ballad of Stringbean and Estelle

On Ridgetop, Tennessee in 1973
The brown boys killed Stringbean and Estelle
The reason for it all is in the bib of his overalls
Least that's what the brown boys would tell
The thieves laid in wait for hours
But things didn't go their way
But he wouldn't let go of his Opry pay

It must have been a terrible struggle
For the cash in his bib overalls
The brown boys said don't give us no trouble
We came for some good, now we want it all
And the thieves said stand and deliver
But Stringbean would not tell
And later we would learn, there was a pawn? of no return
They shot him dead, and then shot Estelle

He saw no smoke from the chimney
So grandpa knew that something was not right
It would burn ever more in his memory
Picture of that dreadful aweful sight
And 23 years later
They tore the fireplace down
There was 20.000 dollars
That the brown boys, never found

Well it seem like easy money
But things didn't go their way
It was just a simple plan, to rob a banjo man
But he wouldn't let go of his Opry pay
Now, string said you can't have my Opry pay

They say that nothing sacred
And now I have seen it all
I read it in this mornings paper
They auctioned off Strings overalls