Horses And Wars

The cow camp is busy the big herd’s uneasy The dark sky is rolling and mean He rolls him a tight one ties down his slicker Slaps at some dust on his knee He lays out a flat loop throws at the piebald Laughed as the old pony ducked Then the third time he caught him I guess the old pony let him Games over he’s startin’ to cuss Now the night watch is his with his face to the wind He nods as rides past the boss He’s hummin’ a song that his granddaddy taught him On the back of that ol’ piebald hoss And he rides off to cow town when the fall work is over And goes straight to the Two Minnie’s bar Where he dances till morning with the prettiest ladies And tells ‘em stories about horses and wars The cow camps are empty the lands full of fences The cowboys feed hay in a truck The chuck wagon stands in a museum in Kansas Rottin’ and gatherin’ dust He rocks in an old chair his granddaddy made him When the plains were still open and free And his leggings still hang on a nail by the bed Gave his spurs to his grandson last spring Then he rolls him a tight one and stares at the wall At a picture of him and the boss For a while he jumps cattle out of sagebrush and cedar On the back of that ol’ piebald hoss Then he dreams he’s in Cowtown a dancin’ till morning With the girls at the Two Minnie’s bar Then he throws down a whiskey with a couple of cowboys And tells lies about horses and wars He’s seen in his lifetime a gas-powered jeepney Then a picture they sent back from mars But all that he prays for is to ride off to glory On the back of that ol’ piebald hoss While he dreams he’s in Cowtown a dancin’ till morning With the girls at the Two Minnie’s bar Then he throws down a whiskey with a couple of cowboys And tells lies about horses and wars