Riding the Range Once More

Gene Autry - Back in the Saddle Again

I'm back in the saddle again
Out where a friend is a friend
Where the longhorn cattle feed
On the lowly jenson weed
Back in the saddle again

Ridin' the range once more
Totin' my old .44
Where you sleep out every night
And the only law is right
Back in the saddle again

Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin' to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in the saddle again

I'm back in the saddle again
Out where a friend is a friend
Where the longhorn cattle feed
On the lowly jenson weed
Back in the saddle again

Ridin' the range once more
Totin' my old .44
Where you sleep out every night
And the only law is right
Back in the saddle again

Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin' to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in the saddle again

Thin Lizzy - The Cowboy Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZnqQtE-bj0

I am just a cowboy lonesome on the trail
A starry night, a campfire light
The coyote call, the howling winds wail
So I ride out to the old sundown

I am just a cowboy lonesome on the trail
Lord, Im just thinking about a certain female
The nights we spent together riding on the range
Looking back it seems so strange

Roll me over and turn me around
Let me keep spinning till I hit the ground
Roll me over and let me go
Running free with the buffalo

I was took in texas I did not know her name
Lord, all these southern girls seem the same
Down below the border in a town in mexico
I got my job busting broncs for the rodeo

Roll me over and turn me around
Let me keep spinning till I hit the ground
Roll me over and let me go
Riding in the rodeo

Roll me over and set me free
The cowboys life is the life for me

I Ride an Old Paint
arranged and adapted by Arlo Guthrie

I ride an old paint, I lead an old dan
I'm goin' to Montana to throw the hoolihan
They feed in the coulees, they water in the draw
Their tails are all matted, their backs are all raw

CHORUS:
Ride around little dogies, ride around them slow
For the fiery and snuffy are rarin' to go

Old Bill Jones had a daughter and a son
One went to college, the other went wrong
His wife, she got killed in a poolroom fight
But still he's a-singin' from mornin' till night

CHORUS

When I die, take my saddle from the wall
Place it on my old pony, lead him out of his stall
Tie my bones to my saddle and turn our faces to the West
And we'll ride the prairie we love the best

CHORUS

I ride an old paint, I lead an old dan
I'm goin' to Montana to throw the hoolihan
They feed in the coulees, they water in the draw
Their tails are all matted, and their backs are all raw

CHORUS

The Lone Ranger - Quantum Jump


Taumatawhakatangihangakoayauo-
tamateaturipukakapikimaungahoro-
nukypokaiwhenuakitanatahu
Me Tonto Kimosabi
Me go and catchee baddy
Find him by the shady water
Deep within Apache forest
Find him scalp him eat him up for breakfast
Real good friend to Kimosabi
Save another silver bullet
Hi ho Silver away
Ride into tomorrow today
But who was that masked man you say
That was the Lone Ranger
Fill up pipe of peace for Tonto
Kimosabi friend and brother
He smoke pipe of peace with Tonto
Put his mask on back to fronto
Tonto fall about with laughter
He a head our great white brother
Even pass a tote to Silver
Mask man very untogether
Hi ho Silver away
Ride into tomorrow today
But who was that masked man you say
That was the Lone Ranger
Taumatawhakatangihangakoayauo-
tamateaturipukakapikimaungahoro-
nukypokaiwhenuakitanatahu
Tonto know that Kimosabi
Never ever have a woman
Tonto sometime stop and wonder
What the trip with the great white brother
Maybe masked man he a poofter
Try it on with surly Tonto
Let me say to mister lawman
Tonto doesn't mind
Hi ho Silver away
Ride into tomorrow today
But who was that masked man you say
That was the Lone Ranger

:wink:

Ghost Riders
(oldest version was recorded by Burl Ives)

An old cowpoke went riding out one dark and windy day
Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way
When all at once a mighty herd of red-eyed cows he saw
A'plowin' through the ragged skies and up a cloudy draw

Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-yi-o
Ghost riders in the sky

Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
Their horns wuz black and shiny and their hot breaths he could feel
A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky
For he saw the riders comin' hard and he heard their mournful cry

Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-yi-o
Ghost riders in the sky

Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, and shirts all soaked with sweat
They're ridin' hard to catch that herd but they ain't caught them yet
They've got to ride forever in that range up in the sky
On horses snortin' fire, as they ride on, hear their cry

Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-yi-o
Ghost riders in the sky

As the riders loped on by him, he heard one call his name
"If you want to save your soul from hell a' ridin' on our range"
"Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride"
"A-tryin' to catch the Devil's herd across these endless skies."

Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-yi-o
Ghost riders in the sky
Ghost riders in the sky

Marty Robbins
Ride Cowboy Ride

Ride, cowboy, ride
Don't ride too slow
Tucson's a mighty long way to go

He started his long ride in Prescott
The sun was a hundred or more
On down he rode at full gallop
Into the flat desert floor

Driving the big herd to Flagstaff
In Prescott the letter was there
Happiness soon would be sorrow
Sad news the letter did bear

Ride, cowboy, ride
Don't go too slow
Ride, cowboy, ride
You've a long way to go

Your darlin' now lies on her deathbed
Racked by fever and pain
Reaching for you at her bedside
At each breath she's callin' your name

Forward he leaned in the saddle
Pushing through misquete and sage
His head never raised for a reading
As he passed the Wickenburg stage

Ride, cowboy, ride
Don't ride too slow
Tucson's a mighty long way to go

In Phoenix he traded horses
Now on the back of this roan
He could see visions of Tucson
His darlin' and their lovely home

Ride, cowboy, ride
Don't ride too slow
There's still a hundred and twenty to go

In through the ranch gate he galloped
And without breaking his stride
He bounded out of the saddle
And rushed to his sweet darlin's side

Then as the dyin' girl saw him
A smile came over her face
Holding her hand as it tightened
Barely had he won the race

Ride, cowboy, ride
On through the blue
Ride, cowboy, ride
She'll be waiting for you
Ride, cowboy, ride
On through the blue
Ride, cowboy, ride
She'll be waiting for you

John Denver
Windsong

Sing songs of the sunrise into the night
The stars as your timepiece, make it all right
Make friends with the darkness, talk to the moon
And when the light lifts, you can let out a tune

Ive been to the mountains, climbed through the sky
Shouldered their whiteness, watched their gold fly
Shared in their treasures, shook at their might
Spoke softly of wonders, Cowboys Delight

Sing songs of the sunrise into the night
A song of the mountain, Cowboys Delight
The stars as your timepiece will make it all right
Sing songs of the mountains, Cowboys Delight

By Bob Carpenter and David Holster

Billy The Kid - Billy Joel

From a town known as Wheeling, West Virginia
Rode a boy with a six-gun in his hand
And his daring life of crime
Made him a legend in his time
East and west of the Rio Grande

Well, he started with a bank in Colorado
In the pocket of his vest, a Colt he hid
And his age and his size
Took the teller by surprise
And the word spread of Billy the Kid

Well, he never traveled heavy
Yes, he always rode alone
And he soon put many older guns to shame
And he never had a sweetheart
And he never had a home
But the cowboy and the rancher knew his name

Well, he robbed his way from Utah to Oklahoma
And the law just could not seem to track him down
And it served his legend well
For the folks, they'd love to tell
'Bout when Billy the Kid came to town

Well, one cold day a posse captured Billy
And the judge said, "String 'im up for what he did!"
And the cowboys and their kin
Like the sea came pourin' in
To watch the hangin' of Billy the Kid

Well, he never traveled heavy
Yes, he always rode alone
And he soon put many older guns to shame
And he never had a sweetheart
But he finally found a home
Underneath the boothill grave that bears his name

From a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island
Rode a boy with a six-pack in his hand
And his daring life of crime
Made him a legend in his time
East and west of the Rio Grande

Old Nashville Cowboys
Hank Williams, Jr.

The old Nashville cowboy was burdened with time
He was bent by his years and the fight with the wine
With a head full of music and an old nursery rhyme
A heart full of sadness and dark sunken nights
He told me they've cheated he told me they stole
The strenght from his youth and the songs from his soul
He said he raised family till he got too old
And he called them miners mother Lord finders
Digging so deep in search of more gold
Oh where are the cowboys and the home on the range
Does anyone know that they've killed Jesse James
Now the good guys on TV seem bad ain't it strange
And the old Nashville cowboys missed out on the change

The old cowboy's life now is gone with the past
Like whiskey he drank it all went out too fast
He didn't know how to make each swallow last
And a head waitress won't be back to fill up his glass
Oh where are the cowboys and the home on the range
Does anyone know that they've killed Jesse James
Is anyone listening or is everyone blind
And old Nashville cowboys will sing for a dime
And hard times are cheap at the end of the line

WHERE HAVE ALL THE COWBOYS GONE?
Paula Cole

Oh you get me ready in your 56 chevy
Why don't we go sit down in the shade
Take shelter on my front porch
The dandy lion sun scorching,
Like a glass of cold lemonade
I will do laundry if you pay all the bills

CHORUS:

Where is my John Wayne
Where is my prairie song
Where is my happy ending
Where have all the cowboys gone

Why don't you stay the evening
Kick back and watch the TV
And I'll fix a little something to eat
Oh I know your back hurts from working on the tractor
How do you take your coffee my sweet
I will raise the children if you pay all the bills

Chorus

I am wearing my new dress tonight
But you don't, but you don't even notice me
Say goodbyes
Say goodbyes
Say goodbyes

We finally sell the chevy
When we had another baby
And you took the job in tennessee
You made friends at the farm
And you joined them at the bar
Almost every single day of the week

Chorus

I will wash the dishes while you go have a beer
Where is my Marlboro man
Where is his shiny gun
Where is my lonely ranger
Where have all the cowboys gone
Yippee yo, yippee yeah

Corb Lund, Little Foothills Heaven Lyrics

it's my little foothills heaven on that northern rocky range
my favorite place to be, and mister that ain't gonna change
and i pray to old chief mountain i'll be back again someday
just in time for you to hear me say
it's my little foothills heaven on that northern rocky range
and i hope that i'll get back again someday

i can see down to montana on a clear and sunny day
and i just may ride down there with my honey for the day
if there's trouble at the border i'll say 'hey well that's ok'
cuz i'd just as soon be back home anyway
to my little foothills heaven on that northern rocky range
and i hope that i'll get back again someday

yodel-ay

there's a bar-x on the rib of every critter you can see
and their coats are slick and shiny in the sun, just like you please
as they graze up toward valhalla you can almost hear them now
sayin 'it don't get much better for a cow'
than a little foothills heaven on that northern rocky range
and i hope that i'll be back again someday

my momma's daddy's daddy picked the spot and picked it well
and when i'm tired of all this rockin rollin beatin me to hell
well out on the back quarter there's a cabin waitin there
where my little gal and i can keep the world out of our hair
at my little foothills heaven on that northern rocky range
and i hope that i'll be back again someday


from the album: Hair in My Eyes Like a Highland Steer [2006]

Little Joe, The Wrangler:


It was Little Joe, the wrangler, he'll wrangle nevermore.
His days with the remuda they are done.
'Twas a year ago last April, he joined the outfit here
Just a little Texas stray and all alone.
Well 'twas long late in the evening when he rode up to the herd
On a little brown pony he called Chaw,
With his broken shoes and overalls, a harder lookin' kid
Well, I never in my life had seen before.

His saddle was a southern kack built many years ago,
And an O.K. spur from one foot idly hung;
While the hot roll in the cotton sack was loosely tied behind,
And a canteen from the saddle horn was slung.
He said he'd had to leave home, his ma had married twice,
And his old man beat him every day or two,
So he saddled up old Chaw one night and "lit a shuck" this way
Thought he'd try and paddle now his own canoe.

Said he'd try and do the best he could if we'd only give him work
But didn't know straight up about a cow.
But the Boss he cuts him out a mount and kinder put him on
'Cause he sorta liked that little stray somehow.
Taught him how to herd the horses and to know them all by name
And to get them in by daylight if he could;
And to follow the chuck wagon and to always hitch the team
And to help the "cocinero" rustle wood.

We was camped down in Red River and the weather she was fine,
We was settin' on the south side in a bend,
When a norther commenced blowin' and we all doubles up our guard
'Cause it took all hands to hold them cattle then.
Well, little Joe the wrangler was called out with the rest,
And hardly had that kid got to that herd,
When them devils they stampeded. Like a hail storm 'long they flew
And all of us was ridin' for the lead.

'Tween the streaks of lightnin' we could see that horse there out ahead
It was little Joe the wrangler in the lead.
He was ridin' old Blue Rocket with his slicker 'bove his head
A-tryin' to check them lead cows in their speed.
Well, we got them kinda millin' and sorta quieted down,
And the extra guard back to the camp did go.
But one of them was missin', and we all saw at a glance
'Twas our little lost horse herder, wrangler Joe.

Next mornin', just at sunup, we found where Rocket fell
Down in a washout forty feet below.
Beneath his horse, mashed to a pulp, his spurs had rung the knell
For our little lost horse rider, wrangler Joe.

My Western Home - Dr. Brewster Higley (1876)

Oh, give me a home where the Buffalo roam
Where the Deer and the Antelope play;
Where never is heard a discouraging word,
And the sky is not clouded all day.

Chorus
A home! A home!
Where the Deer and the Antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the sky is not clouded all day.

Oh! give me a land where the bright diamond sand
Throws its light from the glittering streams,
Where glideth along the graceful white swan,
Like the maid in her heavenly dreams.

Oh! give me a gale of the Solomon vale,
Where the life streams with buoyancy flow;
On the banks of the Beaver, where seldom if ever,
Any poisonous herbage doth grow.

How often at night, when the heavens were bright,
With the light of the twinkling stars
Have I stood here amazed, and asked as I gazed,
If their glory exceed that of ours.

I love the wild flowers in this bright land of ours,
I love the wild curlew's shrill scream;
The bluffs and white rocks, and antelope flocks
That graze on the mountains so green.

The air is so pure and the breezes so fine,
The zephyrs so balmy and light,
That I would not exchange my home here to range
Forever in azures so bright.

* Ridin' Down The Canyon
When evening chores are over at the ranch house on the plains
And all I have to do is lay around,
I saddle up my pony and go ridin' down the trail
To watch the desert sun go down.

Ridin' down the canyon to watch the sun go down
A picture that no artist ere can paint.
White faced cattle lowing on the mountain side,
I hear a coyote calling for its mate.

Cactus plants are blooming, sage brush everywhere,
granite spires are standing all around,
I tell you folks it's heaven to go riding down the trail
When the desert sun goes down.

Sons of the Pioneers

Old Faithful.(a lot of folks did this one, edgar)

(Michael Carr - Jimmy Kennedy)

Old faithful, we rode the range together
Old faithful in every kind of weather
When your round up days are over
There'll be pastures white with clover
For you old faithful pal of mine.

Hurry up old fellow,
'Cause the moon is yellow tonight
Hurry up old fellow
'Cause the moon is mellow and bright.

There's a coyote howlin' to the moon above
So carry me back to the one I love
Hurry up old fellow
'Cause we gotta get home tonight.

Old faithful we rode the range together
Old faithful in every kind of weather
When your round up days are over
There'll be pastures white with clover
For you old faithful pal of mine.

For you old faithful pal of mine...

Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie

"O bury me not on the lone prairie"
These words came low and mournfully
From the pallid lips of the youth who lay
On his dying bed at the close of day.

"O bury me not on the lone prairie
Where the wild coyote will howl o'er me
Where the buffalo roams the prairie sea
O bury me not on the lone prairie"

"It makes no difference, so I've been told
Where the body lies when life grows cold
But grant, I pray, one wish to me
O bury me not on the lone prairie"

"I've often wished to be laid when I die
By the little church on the green hillside
By my father's grave, there let mine be
O bury me not on the lone prairie"

The cowboys gathered all around the bed
To hear the last word that their comrade said
"O partners all, take a warning from me
Never leave your homes for the lone prairie"

"Don't listen to the enticing words
Of the men who own droves and herds
For if you do, you'll rue the day
That you left your homes for the lone prairie"

"O bury me not," but his voice failed there
But we paid no head to his dying prayer
In a narrow grave, just six by three
We buried him there on the lone prairie

We buried him there on the lone prairie
Where the buzzards fly and the wind blows free
Where rattlesnakes rattle, and the tumbleweeds
Blow across his grave on the lone prairie

And the cowboys now as they cross the plains
Have marked the spot where his bones are lain
Fling a handful of roses on his grave
And pray to the Lord that his soul is saved

In a narrow grave, just six by three
We buried him there on the lone prairie

Conestoga

I have wandered through the hills of better days
Broken my own heart with my cheatin' ways
So I'll try to make amends I will rectify
All the time I spent more dead than alive

Darlin' hitch up the Conestoga
Ride my gently to & fro
I have searched many a lifetime
All for what I do not know
All for what I know

Give me freedom like the flight of a raven's wing
Lie down with the sun, rise and start to sing
Lonesome doves will always find their way back home
But there's seed to feed anywhere we roam

I will take the reins when you need to sleep
I will soothe your pain if your back grows weat
But first these words you must speak
I am ready to go, I'm ready to go

Darlin' pack up the Conestoga
Ride my gently sweet and low
I have searched many a lifetime
All for what I do not know
All for what I know

Ready to go…ready to go

Adrienne Young

WAND'RIN' STAR - Lee Marvin - 07/03/1970
3 weeks at #1 - 23 weeks on chart (that UK Charts I think - only got to 14 in Oz, and all my US chart books are at home)

I was born under a wandrin' star
I was born under a wandrin' star
Wheels are made for rolling, mules are made to pack
I've never seen a sight that didn't look better looking back
I was born under a wandrin' star

Life can make you prisoner and the plains can bake you dry
Snow can burn your eyes, but only people make you cry
Home is made for coming from, for dreams of going to
Which with any luck will never come true
I was born under a wandrin' star
I was born under a wandrin' star

Do I know where hell is, hell is in hello
Heaven is goodbye forever, its time for me to go
I was born under a wandrin' star
A wandrin' wandrin' star

(Life can make you prisoner and the plains can bake you dry)
(Snow can burn your eyes, but only people make you cry)
(Home is made for coming from, for dreams of going to)
(Which with any luck will never come true)
(I was born under a wandrin' star)
(I was born under a wandrin' star)

When I get to heaven, tie me to a tree
For I'll begin to roam and soon you'll know where I will be
I was born under a wandrin' star
A wandrin' wandrin' star