Red Steagall - Rider On The Rim

      Rider on the Rim
Red Steagall

[Verse 1]
A                               D            A
On the wagon last october was a kid of seven-teen
A                                               E
A city kid from Dallas, wet behind the ears and green
   A                             D        A
He stepped out of the pages of a western catalog
A                                       E           A
and not the kind you'd pick to ride the rivers and boggs
D                                  
The boss had throwed this kid and me together for the drive
A                                                 E
We took the outside circle, I was mad and full of fight
D
For it ain't no place for tender feet, cause where we had to go
A                                                     E
Up in the hills and badlands where the twisted cedars grow


[Verse 2]
   A                                   D             A 
The kid had drawed a snaky bronc, plum full of dirty tricks
A                                                            E
and I'll give the kid the credit boys he stayed and took his licks
      A                             D                 A  
Cause everytime he got throwed off, he'd step back on again
A                                                     E         A
And we all were wondered how much practicin this city boy could stand
D                                     
At the head of an arroyo where the tamarac grow tall
A                                                    E
I sent the kid a driftin north, to ride out Deadmans draw
D
The country's pretty open and the draw ain't very deep
A                                                         E
So I took Blackhole canyon, where the bluffs are high and steep


[Chorus]
       A                    A7
It was misty in the canyon, the light was sorta dim
D     
Thru the mist I saw a ghostly rider on the rim
 E
He waved his hat and motioned to go back the way I come
D                                                       A
and when the mist had cleared away the ghostly form was gone


[Verse 3]
A                                D                A
I turned my horse around, headed back to Deadmans draw
A                                                   E
I knowed the kids in trouble I could  feel it in my crawl
    A                                   D                  A
From the trail of broken cedars and the deep tracks in the sand
A                                    E              A  
The gray was usin all his tricks the kid had made a hand
D 
But up beneath a cutbank where the trail is slick and steep
A                                             E
The gray lay thrashin on his side the kid lay underneath
D
His foot run thru the stirrup, holdin to the horses head
A                                                    E
He knew that if the gray got up he'd soon be drug to death


[Verse 4]
        A                              D                A
The kid was tired and gettin weak, the horse was gainin ground
A                                                       E
I slipped my gutline round his neck, the kid got turned around
        A                          D                A
So's he was in the saddle when the horse got to his feet
A                                E              A
Then we rode out together but we didn't hardly speak
D
A dozen times I've ridden out along the canyon rim
A                                                        E
There ain't no tracks and I ain't seen that ghostly form again
D
and I don't really care if you believe a word I say
A                                                   E
A cowboy guardian angel helped me save the kid that day


[Final Chorus]
       A                    A7
It was misty in the canyon, the light was kinda dim
D
Thru the mist I saw a ghostly rider on the rim
E
If I live to be a hundred I will not forget the day
D                                                      A
when a cowboy guardian angel taught two punchers how to pray..............
             A                    E        A
(Slowing)    How to pray......... How to pray...............