Rode hard and put up wet, I ain't down but I can't get up yet

It's a long ride back to the way I want to feel

Sun down across the plain, I've been sore before I'll be sore again

No place to hide to keep from runnin'

Laid down in the cottonwood hollow though I left a trail no man could follow,

Is it safe to rest my head again till morning

Cracked throat and my canteen's dry and

Rain don't fall from an empty sky, so I'll whisper Hail Marys till the sun comes up



Now don't tell me that part of the story when the cowboy falls in love

When he traded in his pistol and his saddle and the stars above

When the candle's burnin' down, when midnight comes around

You know the best that we can hope for is to be laughin' when we finally hit the ground



Rode hard come down tired, stripped from the saddle when the rifle fired,

Deep in dreams of women and clean water

Well I did before what I'll do again

So forgive me Father if I have sinned, but the old wood cracks before it bends



Now don't tell me that part of the story when the cowboy falls in love

When he traded in his pistol and his saddle and the stars above

When the candle's burnin' down, when midnight comes around

You know the best that we can hope for is to be laughin' when we finally hit



Yeah the candle's burnin' down, now midnight comes around

You know the best that we can hope for is to be laughin' when we finally hit the ground



The candle's burnin' down, and when midnight comes around