You say you love cowboys Or at least the ones you've seen on TV And saddle up, shadow on the brow, boys Always makin' that life look so easy And all the ways you'd have to break and bend For you to fall in love with Well, this ol' rodeo, you'd have to be a fool To take a chance on a chance-taker, dancin' with the bulls Well, it's a crazy, dangerous game You can't say you ain't been warned It ain't the roses, it's the thorns, dear And they grow on steers' horns, yeah In this ol' rodeo In this ol' rodeo You say you wanna settle down Well, in a big ol' house on a piece of land And maybe have a kid or two But I was born with the pedal down And there ain't no brakes, darlin' You can't have your cake and eat it too In this ol' rodeo, you'd have to be a fool To take a chance on a chance-taker, dancin' with the bulls Well, it's a crazy, dangerous game You can't say you ain't been warned It ain't the roses, it's the thorns, dear And they grow on steers' horns, yeah In this ol' rodeo In this ol' rodeo Well, all the ways you'd have to break and bend For you to fall in love with This ol' rodeo, you'd have to be a fool Take a chance on a chance-taker, dancin' with the bulls Well, it's a crazy, dangerous game You can't say you ain't been warned It ain't the roses, it's the thorns, dear And they grow on steers' horns, yeah In this ol' rodeo In this ol' rodeo In this ol' rodeo In this ol' rodeo

We rode all night across an endless desert We had no moon to light our way And though a million stars were slowly turning We lacked the consciences to pray Our horses running like a devil chase us Those feets, they hardly touched the ground Yes, I'm familiar with a grey wolfs howling But I'm certain, I never heard that sound Devil to pay on judgement day Would Jesus strike me down If I should pray? This cowboy song is all I know To bring me back into your arms Your distant sun, your shining light You'll be my dog-star, shining tonight I've been the lowest of the low on the planet I've been a sinner all my days When I was living with my hand on the trigger I had no sense to change my ways The preacher asked if I'd embrace the resurrection To suck the poison from my life Just like an existential cowboy villain His words were balanced on my knife Devil to pay, on judgement day Would Jesus strike me down If I should pray? This cowboy song is all I know To bring me back into your arms Your distant sun, your shining light You'll be my dog-star, shining tonight Every night, every night All my distances afar This cowboy song, is all I know To bring me back into your arms This cowboy song, this cowboy life I'll be your dog-star, shining tonight Dog-star Dog-star Dog-star Dog-star Dog-star Dog-star Dog-star

Old man river, that old man river He must know something but don't say nothing He just keeps rolling He keeps on rolling along You and me, we sweat and slave Bodies all aching and racked with pain Tow that barge, lift that bail Get a little drunk and you land in jail I get weary and sick of trying I'm tired of living but scared of dying That old man river He just keeps rolling along

Here we all work 'long the Mississippi Here we all work while the white folk play Pullin' them boats from the dawn till sunset Gettin' no rest till the judgment day Don't look up and don't look down Ya don't dast make the white boss frown Bend your knees and bow your head And pull that rope until you're dead Let me go 'way from the Mississippi Let me go 'way from the white man boss Show me that stream called the River Jordan That's the old stream that I long to cross Ol' Man River, that Ol' Man River He must know somepin', but he don't say nothin' He just keeps rollin', he keeps on rollin' along He don't plant taters, and he don't plant cotton And them what plants 'em is soon forgotten But Ol' Man River, jest keeps rollin' along You and me, we sweat and strain Bodies all achin' and wracked with pain Tote that barge and lift that bale Ya get a little drunk and ya lands in ja-ail I gets weary and so sick of tryin' I'm tired of livin', but I'm feared of dyin' And Ol' Man River, he just keeps rollin' along

I met Virginia two summers ago Up in them mountains, teachin school Oh Lord in a one room shack Teachin the children all she knew We spent a lot of hours together And one day she said she loved me for all time And I'm in love with my Virginia And I hope she don't change her mind. We took a trip to Montana Guess we were lookin for gold Never saw a trace of it But it was everywhere, we were told Worked in a mine for thirteen hours every day I took one look at my Virginia And knew she wasn't meant to live that way The goin' was rough, but she treated me so kind I'm in love with miss Virginia And I hope she don't change her mind Now we're back in Carolina Up in them Smokeys where we belong Never knew why we went away Can't understand why we were gone Been with her twenty years And all those years she made me feel so fine She still tells me that she loves me And I hope she don't change her mind Oh I hope she don't change her mind