Marty Robbins: Ava Maria Morales - 1976

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 awhile 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