Red Steagall - Horses And Wars

      G
The cow camp is busy the big herd’s uneasy
                            D7
The dark sky is rolling and mean

He rolls him a tight one ties down his slicker
                          G
Slaps at some dust on his knee


He lays out a flat loop throws at the piebald
                        C
Laughed as the old pony ducked
         D7
Then the third time he caught him

I guess the old pony let him
                            G
Games over he’s startin’ to cuss


Now the night watch is his with his face to the wind
                          C
He nods as rides past the boss
     D7
He’s hummin’ a song that his granddaddy taught him
                                G
On the back of that ol’ piebald hoss

       C
And he rides off to cow town when the fall work is over

And goes straight to the Two Minnie’s bar
         D7
Where he dances till morning with the prettiest ladies
                                       G
And tells ‘em stories about horses and wars


The cow camps are empty the lands full of fences
                          D7
The cowboys feed hay in a truck

The chuck wagon stands in a museum in Kansas
                      G
Rottin’ and gatherin’ dust


He rocks in an old chair his granddaddy made him
                                    C
When the plains were still open and free
        D7
And his leggings still hang on a nail by the bed
                                    G
Gave his spurs to his grandson last spring


Then he rolls him a tight one and stares at the wall
                            C
At a picture of him and the boss
      D7
For a while he jumps cattle out of sagebrush and cedar
                                G
On the back of that ol’ piebald hoss

        C
Then he dreams he’s in Cowtown a dancin’ till morning

With the girls at the Two Minnie’s bar
        D7
Then he throws down a whiskey with a couple of cowboys
                                G
And tells lies about horses and wars


He’s seen in his lifetime a gas-powered jeepney
                                   C
Then a picture they sent back from mars
    D7
But all that he prays for is to ride off to glory
                                G
On the back of that ol’ piebald hoss

         C
While he dreams he’s in Cowtown a dancin’ till morning

With the girls at the Two Minnie’s bar
        D7
Then he throws down a whiskey with a couple of cowboys
                                G
And tells lies about horses and wars