A long time ago in the small border town of Nogalas 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 Nogalas, one mormin', 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 beleived 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 evenin' she'd light A candle and hoped 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 Nogalas 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 If your spirit lives on I hope you have found him At the ranch just outside of Tucson