Songs 41 to 60

sung by Johnny Horton

sung by Dwight Yoakam

My Rifle, My Pony and Me

by Dimitri Tiomkin

Dean Martin lyrics –

The sun is sinking in the west

The cattle go down to the stream

The redwing settles in the nest

It's time for a cowboy to dream

Purple light in the canyons

That's where I long to be

With my three good companions

Just my rifle, pony and me

Gonna hang (gonna hang) my sombrero (my sombrero)

On the limb (on the limb) of a tree (of a tree)

Comin' home (comin' home) sweetheart darlin' (sweetheart darlin')

Just my rifle, pony and me

Just my rifle, my pony and me

Whippoorwill in the willow

Sings a sweet melody

Riding to Amarillo

Just my rifle, pony and me

No more cows (no more cows) to be ropin' (to be ropin')

No more strays (no more strays) will I see (will I see)

Round the bend (round the bend) she'll be waitin' (she'll be waitin')

For my rifle, pony and me

For my rifle, my pony and me.

#42

sung by Dean Martin

sung by Don Williams

Don't Take Your Guns to Town

by Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash lyrics –

A young cowboy named Billy Joe grew restless on the farm

A boy filled with wanderlust who really meant no harm

He changed his clothes and shined his boots

And combed his dark hair down

And his mother cried as he walked out

Don't take your guns to town son

Leave your guns at home Bill

Don't take your guns to town

He laughed and kissed his mom

And said your Billy Joe's a man

I can shoot as quick and straight as anybody can

But I wouldn't shoot without a cause

I'd gun nobody down

But she cried again as he rode away

Don't take your guns to town son

Leave your guns at home Bill

Don't take your guns to town

He sang a song as on he rode

His guns hung at his hips

He rode into a cattle town

A smile upon his lips

He stopped and walked into a bar

And laid his money down

But his mother's words echoed again

Don't take your guns to town son

Leave your guns at home Bill

Don't take your guns to town

He drank his first strong liquor then to calm his shaking hand

And tried to tell himself at last he had become a man

A dusty cowpoke at his side began to laugh him down

And he heard again his mother's words

Don't take your guns to town son

Leave your guns at home Bill

Don't take your guns to town

Filled with rage then

Billy Joe reached for his gun to draw

But the stranger drew his gun and fired

Before he even saw

As Billy Joe fell to the floor

The crowd all gathered 'round

And wondered at his final words

Don't take your guns to town son

Leave your guns at home Bill

Don't take your guns to town.

#43

sung by Johnny Cash

sung by Steve Earle

South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)

by Jimmy Kennedy

Gene Autry lyrics –

Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay

South of the border, down Mexico way

That's where I fell in love when stars above came out to play

And now as I wander, my thoughts ever stray

South of the border, down Mexico way

She was a picture in old Spanish lace

And for a tender while I kissed a smile upon her face

For it was fiesta and we were so gay

South of the border, down Mexico way

Then she sighed as she whispered mañana

Never dreaming that we were parting

And I lied as I whispered mañana

For our tomorrow never came

South of the border, I rode back one day

There in a veil of white by candlelight, she knelt to pray

The mission bells told me that I mustn't stay

South of the border, down Mexico way

[Instrumental]

Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay (Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay)

Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay.

#44

sung by Gene Autry

sung by Frank Sinatra

Desperados Waiting for a Train

by Guy Clark

The Highwaymen lyrics –

I'd play the Red River Valley

And he'd sit out in the kitchen and cry

An' run his fingers through 70 years of livin'

An' wonder Lord, as ever, will that drill run dry?

We were friends, me an this old man

Like desperados waiting for a train

He's a drifter, and a driller of oil wells

And an old-school man of the world

He let me drive his car when he's too drunk to

And he'd wink and give me money for the girls

And our lives were like some old western movie

Like desperados waiting for a train

From the time that I could walk he'd take me with him

To a bar called the Green Frog Cafe

And there were old men with beer-guts and dominoes

Lyin' 'bout their lives while they'd play

And I was just a kid they called his sidekick

Like desperados waiting for a train

One day I looked up, and he's pushin' 80

And there's brown tobacco stains all down his chin

To me he's one of the heroes of this country

So why's he all dressed up like them ol' men?

Drinkin' beer and playin' Moon 'n 42

Like desperados waiting for a train

The day before he died I went to see him

I was grown and he was almost gone

So we just closed our eyes and dreamed us up a kitchen

And sang another verse to that old song

Spoken:

Come on Jack, that son-of-a-gun's a-comin'.

Like desperados waiting for a train

Like desperados waiting for a train...

#45

sung by The Highwaymen

sung by Jerry Jeff Walker

Git Along Little Dogies

Traditional

Roy Rogers lyrics –

As I was a-walkin' one mornin' for pleasure

I spied a cowpuncher all ridin' alone

His hat was throwed back and his spurs were a-jinglin'

And as he approached he was singin' this song

Whoopee ti yi yo, git along little dogies

It's your misfortune and none of my own

Whoopie ti yi yo, git along little dogies

You know that Wyomin' will be your new home

It's early in the spring that we round up the dogies

We mark 'em and brand them and bob off their tails

Round up the horses load up the chuck wagon

Then throw the dogies out on the north trail

Whoopee ti yi yo, git along little dogies

It's your misfortune and none of my own

Whoopie ti yi yo, git along little dogies

You know that Wyomin' will be your new home

Your mother was raised away down in Texas

Where the jimson weed and the sand burrs grow

We'll fill you up on prickly pear and cholla

Until you are ready for Idaho

Whoopee ti yi yo, git along little dogies

It's your misfortune and none of my own

Whoopie ti yi yo, git along little dogies

You know that Wyomin' will be your new home...

#46

sung by Roy Rogers

sung by Gene Autry

Buffalo Gals

by John Hodges

Pete Seeger lyrics –

[Banjo]

As I was walkin' down the street

Down the street, down the street

A pretty little girl I chanced to meet

And we danced by the light of the moon

Buffalo gal won't you come out tonight

Come out tonight, come out tonight

Buffalo gal won't you come out tonight

And dance by the light of the moon

[Banjo]

I danced with a gal with a hole in her stockin'

And 'er heel kept a-knockin' and 'er toe kept a-rockin'

I danced with a gal with a hole in her stockin'

And we danced by the light of the moon

Buffalo gals won't you come out tonight

Come out tonight, come out tonight

Buffalo gal won't you come out tonight

And dance by the light of the moon

[Banjo]

Oh Buffalo gals won't you come out tonight

Come out tonight, come out tonight

Buffalo gal won't you come out tonight

And dance by the light of the moon

Oh Buffalo gals won't you come out tonight

And come out tonight, oh come out tonight

Buffalo gal won't you come out tonight

And dance by the light of the moon.

#47

sung by Pete Seeger

sung by 2nd South Carolina String Band

I'm An Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)

by Johnny Mercer

Johnnie Ray lyrics –

Yippie yi yo kay ay (kay ay)

Yippie yi yo kay ay

I'm an old cowhand from the Rio Grande

But my legs ain't bowed and my cheeks ain't tannned

I'm a cowboy who never saw a cow

I never roped a steer cause I don't know how

And I sure ain't a-fixin' to start in now

A-yippie yi yo kay ay (kay ay)

Yippie yi yo kay ay

I'm an old cowhand from the Rio Grande

And I learned to ride before I learned to stand

I'm a ridin' fool who is up to date

I know every little trail in the Lone Star State

'Cause I ride the range in a Ford V-8

A-yippie yi yo kay ay (kay ay)

Yippie yi yo kay ay

I'm an old cowhand from the Rio Grande

And I come to town just to hear the band

I know all the songs that the cowboys know

About the big corral where the dogies go

'Cause I learned them all on the radio

A-yippie yi yo kay ay (kay ay)

Yippie yi yo kay ay

I'm an old cowhand (old-cowhand) from the Rio Grande (Ri-o Grande)

Where the West is wide (West is wide) around the borderland (borderland)

Where the buffalo roam all around the zoo

And the Indians make you a rug or two

And the old Bar-X is the barbeque

A-yippie yi yo kay ay (kay ay)

Yippie yi yo kay ay (kay ay)

Yippie yi yo kay ay (kay ay).

#48

sung by Johnnie Ray

sung by Bing Crosby

San Antonio Rose

by Bob Wills

Patsy Cline lyrics –

Deep within my heart

Lies a melody

A song of old San Antone

Where in dreams I live

With a memory

Beneath the stars all alone

Well it was there I found

Beside the Alamo

Enchantment strange as the

Blue up above

For that moonlit pass

That only he would know

Still hears my broken song of love

Moon in all your splendor

Known only to my heart

Call back my rose

Rose of San Antone

Lips so sweet and tender

Like petals fallin' apart

Speak once again of my love, my own

Broken song

Empty words I know

Still live in my heart all alone

For that moonlit pass by the Alamo

And rose my rose of San Antone

[Instrumental]

Broken song

Empty words I know

Still live in my heart all alone

For that moonlit pass by the Alamo

And rose my rose of San Antone

And rose my rose of San Antone.

#49

sung by Patsy Cline

sung by Bob Wills

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

by Dimitri Tiomkin & Ned Washington

Frankie Laine lyrics –sung

O. K. Corral, O. K. Corral

There the outlaw band make their final stand

O. K. Corral

Oh, my dearest one must die

Lay down my gun or take the chance

Of losing you forever

Duty calls

My back's against the wall

Have you no kind word to say

Before I ride away, away?

Your love, your love

I need your love

Keep the flame let it burn

Until I return

From the gunfight at

O. K. Corral

If the Lord is my friend

We'll meet at the end

Of the gunfight at O. K. Corral

Gunfight at O. K. Corral

Boot Hill, Boot Hill

So cold, so still

There they lay side by side

The killers that died

In the gunfight at

O. K. Corral

Gunfight at O. K. Corral.

#50

sung by Frankie Laine

sung by Stephen van Dorn

Wild Montana Skies

by John Denver

John Denver lyrics –

He was born in the Bitteroot Valley in the early mornin' rain

Wild geese over the water, heading north and home again

Bringin' a warm wind from the south, bringin' the first taste of the spring

His mother took him to her breast, and softly she did sing:

Oh Montana, give this child a home

Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own

Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes

Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild Montana skies

His mother died that summer and he never learned to cry

He never knew his father and he never did ask why

And he never knew the answers that would make an easy way

But he learned to know the wilderness and to be a man that way

His mother's brother took him in to his family and his home

Gave him a hand that he could lean on and a strength to call his own

And he learned to be a farmer, and he learned to love the land

And he learned to read the seasons and he learned to make a stand

Oh Montana, give this child a home

Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own

Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes

Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild Montana skies

On the eve of his 21st birthday, he set out on his own

He was 30 years and runnin' when he found his way back home

Ridin' a storm across the mountains and an achin' in his heart

Said he came to turn the pages and to make a brand new start

Now he never told a story of the time that he was gone

Some say he was a lawyer, some say he was a John

There was somethin' in the city that he said he couldn't breathe

Somethin' in the country that he said he couldn't leave

Oh Montana, give this child a home

Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own

Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes

Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild Montana skies.

[Instrumental]

Now some said he was crazy, some are glad he's gone

Some of us will miss him we'll try to carry on

Giving a voice to the forest, giving a voice to the dawn

Giving a voice to the wilderness and the land that we live on

Oh Montana, give this child a home

Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own

Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes

Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild Montana skies

Oh Montana, give this child a home

Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own

Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes

Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild Montana skies.

#51

sung by John Denver

by The Special Consensus

The Last Cowboy Song

by Ed Bruce

Ed Bruce lyrics –

This is the last cowboy song

The end of a hundred year waltz

The voices sound sad as they're singin' along

Another piece of America's lost

He rides a feed lot, and clerks in a market

On weekends sellin' tobacco and beer

And his dream's of tomorrow surrounded by fences

But he'll dream tonight of when fences weren't here

He blazed the trail with Lewis and Clark

And eyeball to eyeball old Wyatt backed down

He stood shoulder to shoulder with Travis in Texas

And rode with the Seventh when Custer went down

This is the last cowboy song

The end of a hundred year waltz

The voices sound sad as they're singin' along

Another piece of America's lost

Remington showed us how he looked on canvas

And Louis Lamour has told us his tale

And Willie and Waylon and me sing about him

And wish to God we could have ridden his trail

Spoken, with the next verse sung in the background:

The old Chisholm trail is covered in concrete now

And they truck 'em to market in fifty foot rigs

They blow by his marker never slowin' to read

Like livin' and dyin' was all he ever did

This is the last cowboy song

The end of a hundred year waltz

The voices sound sad as they're singin' along

Another piece of America's lost

This is the last cowboy song

The end of a hundred year waltz

The voices sound sad as they're a-singin' along

Another piece of America's lost

This is the last cowboy song

The end of a hundred year waltz

The voices sound sad as they're singin' along

Another piece of America's lost

[Instrumental]

This is the last cowboy song

The end of a hundred year waltz

The voices sound sad as they're singin' along

Another piece of America's lost

This is the last cowboy song.

#52

sung by Ed Bruce

sung by The Highwaymen

The Ballad of Paladin

by Johnny Western et al

Johnny Western lyrics –

Paladin Paladin where do you roam?

Paladin Paladin far far from home

Have gun will travel reads the card of a man

A knight without armor in a savage land

His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind

A soldier of fortune is the man called Paladin

Paladin Paladin where do you roam?

Paladin Paladin far far from home

He travels on to wherever he must

A chess knight of silver is his badge of trust

There are campfire legends that the plainsmen spin

Of the man with the gun of the man called Paladin

Paladin Paladin where do you roam?

Paladin Paladin far far from home

Far from home

Far from home.

#53

sung by Johnny Western

sung by Faron Young

Tonight We Ride

by Tom Russell

Tom Russell lyrics –

[Instrumental]

Pancho Villa crossed the border in the year of ought sixteen

The people of Columbus still hear him riding through their dreams

He killed seventeen civilians you could hear the women scream

Blackjack Pershin' on a dancin' horse was waitin' in the wings

Tonight we ride, tonight we ride

We'll skin ol' Pancho Villa, make chaps out of his hide

Shoot his horse, Siete Leguas, and his twenty-seven brides

Tonight we ride, tonight we ride

We rode for three long years till Blackjack Pershing called it quits

When Jackie wasn't lookin' I stole his fine spade bit

It was tied upon his stallion, so I rode away on it

To the wild Chihuahuan desert, so dry you couldn't spit

Tonight we ride, you bastards dare

We'll kill the wild Apache for the bounty on his hair

We will ride into Durango, climb up the whorehouse stairs

Tonight we ride, Tonight we ride

[Instrumental]

When I'm too damn old to sit a horse, I'll steal the warden's car

Break my ass out of this prison leave my teeth there in a jar

You don't need no teeth for kissin' gals or smokin' cheap cigars

I'll sleep with one eye open, 'neath God's celestial stars

Tonight we rock, tonight we roll

We'll rob the Juarez liquor store for the Reposado Gold

And if we drink ourselves to death ain't that the cowboy way to go?

Tonight we ride, tonight we ride

Tonight we fly we're headin' west

Toward the mountains and the ocean where the eagle makes his nest

If our bones bleach on the desert, we'll consider we are blessed

Tonight we ride, Tonight we ride

[Instrumental]

Tonight we ride, tonight we ride.

#54

sung by Tom Russell

sung by The Buckaroo Balladeers

Oklahoma

by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein

Original Soundtrack lyrics –

They couldn't pick a better time to start in life

It ain't too early and it ain't too late!

Startin' as a farmer with a brand new wife

Soon be livin' in a brand new state!

Brand new state. Gonna treat you great!

Gonna give you barley, carrots and potaters,

Pasture for the cattle, spinach and tomaters,

Flowers on the prarie where the June bugs zoom,

Plenty of air and plenty of room,

Plenty a room to swing a rope!

Plenty of heart and plenty of hope.

OOOOk-lahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain

And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet

When the wind comes right behind the rain

OOOOk-lahoma, ev'ry night my honey lamb and I

Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk makin' lazy circles in the sky

We know we belong to the land

And the land we belong to is grand

And when we say

Yeeow! Aye-yip-aye-yo-ee-ay!

We're only sayin'

You're doin' fine, Oklahoma

Oklahoma O.K.!

OOOOk-lahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain (Oklahoma)

And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet

As the wind comes right behind the rain

Ooook-lahoma, ev'ry night my honey lamb and I (every night we)

Sit alone and talk and watch the hawk makin' lazy circles in the sky

We know we belong to the land

And the land we belong to is grand

Yippie-yi-yippie-yi

And when we say

Yeeow! Aye-yip-aye-yo-ee-ay!

We're only sayin'

You're doin' fine, Oklahoma

Oklahoma you're O.K.

Okla-homa-Okla-homa-Okla-homa

We know we belong to the land

And the land we belong to is grand!

And when we say

Yeeow! Aye-yip-aye-yo-ee-ay!

We're only sayin'

You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!

Oklahoma

O - K - L - A - H - O - M - A

OKLAHOMA!

Yeeow!

#55

from the Original Soundtrack

from the Royal National Theatre

I'd Like to Be in Texas for the Roundup in the Spring

Traditional

Buck Ramsey lyrics –

In a lobby in a big hotel in New York town one day

Set a bunch of fellers tellin' yarns, to pass the time away

They talked of places that they'd been and differ'nt sights they'd seen

Some of 'em praised Chicago town and others New Orleans

In a corner in an old armchair set a man whose hair was gray

He would listen eagerly to what they had to say

They asked him where he'd like to be and his dear old voice did ring

I'd like to be in Texas for the roundup in the spring

I see the cattle grazin' o'er the hills of early morn

I can see the campfire smokin' at the breakin' of the dawn

I hear the broncos neighin', hear the cowboys sing

Oh I'd like to be in Texas for the roundup in the spring

They all set still and listened every word he had to say

They knew the old man sittin' there had once been young and gay

They asked him for a story of his life out on the plain

He slowly removed his hat and quietly began

Well I've seen 'em stampede o'er the hills till you'd think they'd never stop

Seen 'em run for miles and miles until their leaders drop

I was foreman of a cow ranch, that's the callin' of a king

I'd like to be in Texas for the roundup in the spring

I see the cattle grazin' o'er the hills of early morn

I can see the campfire smokin' at the breakin' of the dawn

I hear the broncos neighin', hear the cowboys sing

Oh I'd like to be in Texas for the roundup in the spring

There's a grave in sunny Texas where Josie Bridwell sleeps

There's a grove of leafy cottonwoods her constant vigil keeps

In my heart's recollection of that long long bygone day

We rode the range together like two skippin' kids at play

Her gentle voice it calls me in the watches of the night

I hear her laughter freshenin' the dew of early light

I was foreman of a cow ranch, that's the callin' of a king

I'd like to be in Texas for the roundup in the spring

Oh I see the cattle grazin' o'er the hills of early morn

I can see the campfire smokin' at the breakin' of the dawn

Oh I hear the broncos neighin', hear the cowboys sing

Oh I'd like to be in Texas for the roundup in the spring.

#56

sung by Buck Ramsey

sung by Bradley Kinkaid

Buck Ramsey

Bradley Kinkaid

Call You Cowboy

by Brenn Hill

Brenn Hill lyrics –

[Guitar]

God saved some lucky men to be cowboys

Cus' no ordinary man can wear the name

Hearts of gold and hands of leather

An' that restless spirit no one will ever tame

Branded by the land

Befriended by the wind

You may never pass this way again

It's somethin' in the wind just sayin' that your time is now, boy

And your daddy calls you a drifter

I call you cowboy

[Guitar]

Well that voice of freedom is callin' you down the line

An' you don't know where you're goin', 't you know what you leave behind

You're saddlin' up now to chase your dreams

To show yourself and the world what freedom really means

You been branded by the land

Befriended by the wind

You may never pass this way again

Somethin' in the wind is sayin' that your time is now, boy

An' your daddy calls you a drifter

I call you cowboy

[Guitar]

She's got eyes as blue as the sky

Whoever said cowboys don't cry

It's just somethin' deep inside sayin' your time is now, boy

Your daddy calls you a drifter

I call you cowboy

Yeah, your daddy calls you a drifter

I call you friend

I call you cowboy

Well I call you cowboy.

[Guitar]

#57

sung by Brenn Hill

sung by Scott Bragonier

Brenn Hill

Bonanza

by Jay Livingston & Ray Evans

Johnny Cash lyrics –

The claim we hold is a good as gold bonanza

Hand in hand we built this land, the Ponderosa Ranch

Our birthright is this Cartwright bonanza

We here belong, and standin' strong, wrong ain't got a chance

Day by day, work or play, ready side by side

Hello friend, come on in, the gate is open wide

Bound to be a fightin' free bonanza

Singin' pines of boundary lines for the Ponderosa Ranch

[Instrumental]

Every tree and flower is part of our bonanza

The stars at night, the mornin' light, the waters in the branch

We ride along four men strong together

Every plain and ridge is our heritage Ponderosa Ranch

Day by day, work or play, ready side by side

Hello friend, come on in, the gate is open wide

Bound to be a fightin' free bonanza

Singin' pines of boundary lines for the Ponderosa Ranch.

[Instrumental]

#58

sung by Johnny Cash

sung by Lorne Greene

The Old Double Diamond

by Gary MacMahan

Ian Tyson lyrics –

[Instrumental]

Now the ol' Double Diamond lay out east of Dubois in the land of the buffalo

And the auctioneer's gavel how it rapped and it rattled

As I watched the ol' Double Diamond go

Won't you listen to the wind mother nature's violin

When I first hired on the ol' Double Diamond

I was a damn poor excuse for a man

Never learned how to aim when the spirit was tame

Couldn't see all the cards in my hand

And the wind whipped the granite above me

Blew the tumbleweeds clean through my soul

Well I fought her winters and I busted her horses

And I took more than I thought I could stand

But the battles with the mountains and cattle

Seem to bring out the best in a man

I guess a sailor he needs an ocean and a mama her babies to hold

But I need the hills of Wyomin' in the land of the buffalo

[Instrumental]

Now she's sellin' out I'm movin' on

But I'm leaving with more than I came

'Cause I've got this saddle and it ain't for sale and I got this song to sing

Find a new range to ride, new knots to tie

In a country where cowboys are king

I turned my tails to the wind and the ol' Double Diamond

Disappeared into the sage.

#59

sung by Ian Tyson

sung by Chris LeDoux

Lorena

by J. P. Webster

John Hartford lyrics –

Oh the years creep slowly by, Lorena

Th' snow is on the ground again

The sun's low down the sky, Lorena

The frost gleams where the flowers have been

But the heart beats on as warmly now

As when the summer days were nigh

Oh the sun can never dip so low

To be down in affection's cloudless sky

[Instrumental]

A hundred months have passed, Lorena

Since last I held that hand in mine

And felt pulse beat fast, Lorena

Though mine beat faster far than thine

A hundred months 'twas flowery May

When up that hilly slope we climbed

To watch the dying of the day

And hear the distant church bells chime

[Instrumental]

We loved each other then, Lorena

Far more than we ever dared to tell

And what we might have been, Lorena

Had our lovin' prospered well

Then, 'tis part, the years roll on

I'll not call up their shadowy forms

I'll say to them, "Lost years, sleep on

Sleep on, nor heed life's pelting storms."

[Instrumental]

#60

sung by John Hartford

sung by Waylon Jennings

John Hartford