He was black as the sky on a moonless night 

Real good with the horses never reined them too tight 

He rode with the best Hell he rode with me 

And they got it all wrong in that book of history


It wasn't the cowboys and ponies it was the horses and men 

It wasn't school boys and ladies it was cow towns and sin 

And there was blood on the leather and tears in her eyes 

We swore at the devil then went for a ride


We told some tales but he told them best 

Real life can always use a good stretch 

But that don't change the things we did 

Cause the truest thing was the life that we lived


It wasn't the cowboys and ponies it was the horses and men 

It wasn't school boys and ladies it was cow towns and sin 

And there was blood on the leather and tears in her eyes 

We swore at the devil then went for a ride


There's more than one kind of pain 

There's more than one kind of theft 

It's bitter as the night sweet Jesus wept 

You stole my heart age stole the fire 

And they stole my prairie when they strung all that wire


It wasn't the cowboys and ponies it was the horses and men 

It wasn't school boys and ladies it was cow towns and sin 

And there was blood on the leather and tears in her eyes 

We swore at the devil then went for a ride


We swore at the devil and went for a ride