Jayne’s Lament

My daddy was a miner, an’ my brother was a miner,

An’ my sister, well she was a miner too

So I tried my hand at minin’, but I found it too confinin’

An' I looked around for somethin’ else to do

I was kind ‘a big ‘n strong, an’ it didn’t take me long,

To figger I could make my bigness pay

I’d walk over to a fella, didn’t matter white or yella,

Knock him flat, an’ take his loot, an’ walk away

Never had a partner much. Couldn’t see the need for such

They were trouble, us’ly more ‘n they were worth

An’ right when you were in it, they’d turn on you in a minute

You’d be lucky not to end up under earth

I looked out for number one, an’ was handy with a gun

An’ my knife-work was a lovely sight to see

But it started goin’ wrong, when I heard the siren song

Of a private bunk, an’ joined Serenity

At first it wasn’t bad, lots of scores there to be had

Then we started pickin’ up the strangest folk

A Shepherd an’ a Doc. Crazy girl who was in shock

An’ you never could make out the way she spoke

Well, I never had a doubt, when I could I’d sell ‘em out

An’ I tried a time or two with no success

Just bad timin’ or bad luck, an’ I couldn’t get un-stuck

An’ ev’ry time I’d end up in a mess

All day I’d be ‘a schemin’, an’ at night I’d lay there dreamin’

’Bout how I would turn them over if I could

Then I’d think of crazy River, and my gut would give a shiver

‘cause them as wanted her were sure no good

Didn’t think it would be hard, if they dealt me the right card

Knew that I could have a fortune if I dared

But when that card came at last, I looked at it, and I passed,

An’ why, you ask? Gor’ram it, ‘cause I Cared