Artist/Band:
Marty Robbins
Lyrics for Song: Old Red
Lyrics for Album: Under Western Skies [1996]
Old Red was one of the onriest yet
I'd seen at the big rodeo
He'd bite you and kick you and stomp out your life,
Old Red had never been rode.
Meaner than sin, wild as the wind
That blew on the Montana plains
Old Red was one of the last of his kind
And wasn't about to be tamed.
From Idaho a young cowboy came
To ride in the big rodeo
The young cowboy's name was Billy McLain
And Billy had never been thrown.
The greatest desire filled young Billy's heart
To ride this old outlaw called Red
He drew him one day and I heard Billy say
''I'll ride him or drop over dead.''
Old Red was wicked down there in the shoot
He was kickin' and stompin' about
Billy climbed into the saddle with ease
Then yelled, ''Turn 'em loose, let us out.''
Old Red came out with his head on the ground
His back hooves were touchin' his nose
Tryin' to get rid of the man on his back
But the man went wherever he'd go.
Billy was rackin' Old Red with his spurs
From the tail to the tip of his chin
He was doin' right well, but Billy could tell
This outlaw would never give in.
Old Red was runnin' straight for the fence
Suddenly stoppin' and then
He reared on his hind legs, then fell on his back
Takin' poor Billy with him.
There was a hush in the crowd and they knew
This would be Billy's last ride
The saddle horn crushed Billy's chest when they fell
And under Old Red, Billy died.
Old Red lay still, no more would he move
The cowboys that seen it could tell
In trying to throw Billy off his back
Old Red broke his neck when he fell.
Out in the west is the place where they rest
This cowboy that never was thrown
And one foot away restin' there neath the clay
Was the outlaw that never was rode...
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