Legacy Of The Rodeo Man

With the rodeo right around the corner, Baxter Black defines the true character of the Rodeo Cowboy.

There's a hundred years of history and a hundred before that

All gathered in the thinkin' goin' on beneath his hat

And back behind his eyeballs and pumpin' through his veins

Is the ghost of every cowboy that ever held the reins

Every coil in his lasso's been thrown a million times

His quiet concentration's been distilled through ancient minds

It's evolution workin' when the silver scratches hide

And a ghostly cowboy chorus fills his head and says, "Let's ride."

The famous and the rowdy, the savage and the sane

The bluebloods and the hotbloods and the corriente strain

All knew his mother's mothers or was it his daddy's kin

'Til he's nearly purely cowboy, born to ride and bred to win

He's got Buffalo Bill Cody and Goodnight's jigger boss

And all of the brave blue soldiers that General Custer lost

The ghost of Pancho Villa, Sittin' Bull and Jessie James

All gathered by his campfire keepin' score and takin' names

There's every Royal Mountie that ever got his man

And every day-work cowboy that ever made a hand

Each man that's rode before him, yup every mother's son

Is in his corner, rootin', when he nods to make his run

Freckles Brown might pull his bull rope, Casey Tibbs might jerk the flank

Bill Pickett might be hazin' when he starts to turn the crank

Plus Remington and Russell lookin' down his buckhorn sight

All watchin' through the window of this cowboy's eyes tonight

And standin' in the catch pen or in chute number nine

Is the offspring of a mountain that's come down from olden time

A volcano waitin' quiet, 'til they climb upon his back

Rumblin' like the engine of a freight train on the track

A cross between a she bear and a bad four wheel drive

With the fury of an eagle when it makes a power dive

A snake who's lost its caution or a badger gone berserk

He's a screamin', stompin', clawin', rabid, mad dog piece o' work

From the rollers in his nostrils to the foam upon his lips

From the hooves as hard as granite to the horns with dagger tips

From the flat black starin' shark's eye that's the mirror of his soul

Shines the challenge to each cowboy like the devil callin' roll

In the seconds that tick slowly 'til he climbs upon his back

Each rider faces down the fear that makes his mouth go slack

And cuts his guts to ribbons and gives his tongue a coat

He swallows back the panic gorge that's risin' in his throat

The smell of hot blue copper fills the air around his head

Then a single, solid shiver shakes away the doubt and dread

The cold flame burns within him 'til his skin's as cold as ice

And the dues he paid to get here are worth every sacrifice

All the miles spent sleepy drivin', all the money down the drain

All the "if I's" and the "nearly's", all the bandages and the pain

All the female tears left dryin', all the fever and the fight

Are just a small down-payment on the ride he makes tonight

And his pardner in this madness that the cowboy's call a game

Is a ton of buckin' thunder bent on provin' why he came

But the cowboy never wavers he intends to do his best

And of that widow maker, he expects of him no less

There's a solemn silent moment that every rider knows

When the time stops on a heartbeat like the earth itself was froze

Then all the ancient instinct fills the space between his ears

Til the whispers of his phantoms are the only thing he hears

When you get down to the cuttin' and the leather touches hide

And there's nothin' left to think about, he nods and says, "Outside!"

Then frozen for an instant against the open gate

Is hist'ry turned to flesh and blood, a warrior incarnate

And while they pose like statues in that flicker of an eye

There's somethin' almost sacred, you can see it if you try

It's guts and love and glory-one mortal's chance at fame

His legacy is rodeo and cowboy is his name