I came to town to search for gold And I brought with me a memory And I seem to hear the night wind cry, 'Go hang your dreams on the hangin' tree Your dreams of love that could never be Hang your faded dreams on the hangin' tree!'
I searched tor gold and I found my gold And I found a girl who loved just me And I wished that I could love her too But I'd left my heart on the hangin' tree I'd left my heart with a memory And a faded dream on the hangin' tree.
Now there were men who craved my gold And meant to take my gold from me When a man is gone he needs no gold So they carried me to the hangin' tree To join my dreams and a memory Yes they carried me to the hangin' tree.
To really live you must almost die And it happened just that way with me They took the gold and set me free And I walked away from the hangin' tree I walked away from the hangin' tree And my own true love, she walked with me!
That's when I knew that the hangin' tree Was a tree of life, new life for me A tree of hope, new hope for me A tree of love, new love tor me The hangin' tree, the hangin' tree, the hangin' tree!