RODEO HEAVEN

Verse 1:
I can’t think about my work today
Even though I’m barely hangin’ on
There’s a voice inside says “Run away…
They won’t even know you’re gone”

I’m a wildcat in a cage today
Thinkin’ ‘bout the places I could be
I don’t know how I can break away
All I know is that I’ve got to break free

Chorus:
To the High Country
Like the Mountain Lion
In the Land of Eagles
Let my soul unwind
It’s my Rocky Mountains
That you can’t take from me
Let me find myself
In the High Country

Verse 2:
There’s a trail up Granite Peak
Hidden by the sagebrush and the wind
You can hear the mountain speak
It says welcome back my long lost friend

Repeat Chorus:

Bridge:
And the future is uncertain for me
For the places that I go
Like the River of No Return you see
Where the lost wind blows clean through your soul

Verse 3:
It’s a lonesome dream I know
You might think I’ve lost my mind
But there’s a hole inside your soul
There’s a peace you long to find

Final Chorus

Verse 1:
Hey Dawson let’s ride again
Up Franklin Canyon with our faces to the wind
Let’s start at daybreak when the East is turnin’ gray
Laugh about the ones that got away

Hey Dawson let’s ride again
Up the old red dugway and around the aspen bend
Up on top of Timberfork and down the other side
Let’s count our blessings as we ride

Chorus:
For the time’s a changin’ the city’s closin’ in
Across that old cattle guard our troubles all begin
My heart is broken I need a friend
Hey Dawson let’s ride again

Verse 2:
Hey Dawson where the Hell you goin’
Huntin’ season’s comin’ and there’s talk of early snow
These old red canyons they won’t ever be the same
Just by the mention of your name

Hey Dawson I’ll write you a song
But this time where you’re goin’ I can’t ride along
From old Hunt’s Meadow to the dusty Echo side
Those were the best times in my life

Repeat Chorus

Final Verse:
Hey Dawson let’s ride again
Paradise can’t hold a candle to the places we have been
Beneath the endless shadows of majestic Lewis Peak
Until They set my spirit free

Final Chorus

Verse 1:
My name is Bobby Adair listen to my tale
It ain’t much of a story so you’d better listen well
In Southeast Oklahoma when I was but a boy
I ran many a match race and I never wanted more
I believed then I could ride anything with hair
Then one California mornin’ I found myself there
At Los Alamitos Race Course in 1962
Where the story starts and ends is where you find the dream comes true

Chorus:
Courage in the saddle
Face into the wind
You ride each time like you won’t live again
If you’re gonna ride to win son it’s gonna be a battle
You better have a heart of steel
And courage in the saddle

Verse 2:
Anna Dial was ten to one in ’64 on May the 9th
We were twenty-five-large richer when she crossed the finish line
Night races at Bay Meadows ’68 to ‘73
There never was a jockey who had won as much as me
We were back at Alamitos in May of ‘84
Thick fog down the straightaway, mud on the racetrack floor
John Critter on “Face in the Crowd” turned left in front of me
And the bottom side of runnin’ hooves was all that I could see

Repeat Chorus

Verse 3:
Crushed my foot and ankle, my shoulder, and my face
But my longin’ for the racetrack no surgery could replace
So as a twenty year Outrider I’ll finally retire
From the course at Alamitos the place I first caught fire
And the years have passed right through me I’ll never be the same
And the changin’ times and politics we ought to be ashamed
For we’re short of field and horses Midwest jockeys they’re all through
Where the story starts and ends is where you find the dream comes true

Final Chorus

Verse 1:
Well the trail up Girtsen Canyon is covered in with snow
I always dreamed that such a day would come my time to go
With all our children gathered proud for the life I freely chose
And on an old pine box you’d place a single winter rose

For sixty years we did our best to make a house a home
A woman’s life as a cowboy’s wife is too much time alone
But down the trail I rode each night you waited here for me
Now sittin’ here without you near ain’t how it’s supposed to be

Chorus:
And would you be a cowboy’s wife again
The hard times and lonely days and nights that never end
‘Cause Eileen I still love you as the Good Lord only knows
It’s time to say goodbye now with this single winter rose

Verse 2:
The kids are gathered round me now their children and our friends
We’re singin’ songs and memories I hope it never ends
There’s still so much we have to say about you and your love
Lookin’ back I can’t help feel I never said enough

We’ll put up your old saddle now your spurs hang on the wall
The picture of our wedding day that I love most of all
Little things I should’ve done Lord how the time it goes
I honor and I love you with this single winter rose

Repeat Chorus

Tag
The trail up Girtsen Canyon is covered in with snow
I never dreamed that such a day would be your time to go…

Verse 1:
Up Indian Canyon all the way down Argyle all the way down Nine Mile
You’ll hear his name
The drunks in the trailer park, Game Wardens ridin’ ‘round in the dark
Doesn’t matter who they are
They all love him just the same

Chorus 1:
They all say, “Hey Finnigan, it’s always good to see you again
I still remember when you were drillin’ for coal
You’re one helluva sawmill man so put a cold one in your hand
And by the way Old Finnigan, Blake says hello”

Verse 2:
The fair at Emory County good folks all around me the conversation drowns me
When he walks in
The old rough coal miners and the dry land farmers young ‘uns and the old timers they all turn and
say, “Hey there’s Fin!”

Chorus 2:
And they say, “Hey Finnigan, it’s always good to see you again
I still remember when you were drillin’ for coal
You’re one helluva sawmill man so put a cold one in your hand
And by the way Old Finnigan, Brenn says hello”

Bridge:
I’ve been all around this wild and crazy world
I’ve met folks from every walk of life
The rich the poor the Jew the gentile boys and girls
I’ve only met one woman I could ever call my wife

Chorus 3:
And there’s only one Finnigan it’s always good to see him again
I’ve heard all the stories of when he was drillin’ for coal
He’s one helluva sawmill man so put a cold one in his hand
Then you tell Old Finnigan I said hello, Brenn says hello,
You tell Old Finnigan, I said hello

Verse 1:
I spent a night in the bunkhouse
Down on Sheep Creek at Simplot #2
Those black rock cliffs were all around us
And the sky was a starry midnight blue

Woke with the sunrise in the mornin’
Desert sparrows singin’ through the brush
I saddled Jasper in the lantern light
And prayed I would make a hand that he could trust

Chorus:
In Bruneau Canyon
Springtime brandin’
Lonesome as the windy ‘Wyhee plains
North of Elko
Southeast Idaho
The cold gray sky that never rains
I thank God some things never change

Verse 2:
Ten thousand acres to a pasture
We gathered heifers until noon
With their babies a bawlin’ ‘long beside them
They’d feel the brandin’ iron soon

Owyhee Mountains on the skyline
Horse sweat and leather on the wind
Lone buckaroos driftin’ through the sagebrush
I prayed the day would never end

Verse 3:
We branded through the afternoon
Ate lunch out on the dusty desert ground
Then me and Elvin trailed some old dry heifers
Back to the old Sheep Creek corrals

I loaded Jasper in the Sooner
And bid my new found pardners Adios
And I think about them to this day
But it’s the deep, dark Bruneau Canyon I miss most

Verse 1:
Clearwater River never-ending canyon such a long way where you are
On the trail of Old Chief Joseph to the cold Northern Prairie
I hear you calling from afar
Your Purple Heart and Bronze Star

I walk the woods there behind your son my lucky rifle in my hand
We laugh and wander like soldiers on the run
Huntin’ down an outlaw Indian band
To where they made their final stand

Chorus:
And Charlie can we talk about the war tonight
Did you really kill 500 men
Did their eyes glisten in the mortar light
Would you go back there again
With that damned old Agent Orange in your blood
And that twisp of Old Montana in your scar
Will you dig out that old Colt 45
Your Purple Heart and Bronze Star

Verse 2:
Years on the mountain mappin’ out the Bob Morgan horses on the trails
Them old canvas wall tents don’t hold out Grizzler Bears
But that old pistol never failed
And the best outfitter never tells

Repeat Chorus

Final Verse:
Gotta go now I make my livin’ singin’ songs of men like you
But this music business it’s like a war man
They’ll kill a million ‘fore they’re through
But my bullets fire red white and blue

Final Chorus:

Verse 1:
Look at me lookin’ down the children’s isle
I feel your eyes upon me; I know I’ve been here quite a while
And look at all these happy people with their children hand in hand
Why the Lord took mine from me is somethin’ I won’t ever understand

Chorus:
But I want this suit and tie
And I want these little shoes
Cause when we say goodbye
I want him wearin’ somethin’ new
And you ask if you can help me
Maam you can’t help me enough
I’m here today to redefine
A Mother’s Love

Verse 2:
He was so much like his Daddy but so much more like me
And he fought ev’ry day for ev’ry breath he took and now he’s fin’ly free
And tonight I’ll dress him up just one last time for family and friends
One door closes one door opens they say death is not the end

Repeat Chorus:

Bridge:
And there’s nothin’ you can say I’ve heard it all before
Just ring me up I’ll pay now and then be out the door

Final Verse:
And you can go home to your family and kiss them all goodnight
And know they’ll be there in the mornin’ and everything will be alright
And when you send them off to school remember I’ll be sendin’ mine
Back to his home in heaven and yeah I will be just fine

Final Chorus:
Cause I’ve got this suit and tie
And I’ve got these little shoes
So when we say goodbye
He’ll be wearin’ somethin’ new
And you ask if you can help me
Maam you’ve helped me here so much
I’m here today to redefine
A Mother’s Love

Verse 1:
Well you best leave me a message I might be on some pitchy old bronc
Deep seat in the rockin’ chair doin’ the Honky Tonk
I ain’t got time to kill ridin’ down the miracle mile
I’m goin’ against my will son but I’m goin’ with a smile

Chorus:
And that Rodeo Heaven that’s where I’ve already been
New York in ’57 and I’m a goin’ there again
So don’t expect to find me teary eyed and broken hearted
The Doc might say I’m dyin’ son
Hell I’m just gettin’ started

Verse 2:
I been ridin’ broncs and bulls for damn near fifty years
I’ve lived all your cowboy poems and I ain’t got time for tears
They say rodeo will kill ya’ leave ya’ a broken down tired old man
I been dyin’ for years I guess cause ridin’ bulls son is who I am

Repeat Chorus:

Bridge:
And all them Honky Tonk Angels I almost hear them now
And all my rodeo buddies are gonna carry me out
Carry me out

Final Verse:
So when you feel one start to buckin’
Dig a big spur in for Junior
Me and the boys from the RCA
Are gonna sit right back and join ya’

Final Chorus:

Verse 1:
Hey little cowboy they’re waiting for you
Rodeo Heaven’s got somethin’ to do
Wing-broncs and silver-horned bulls that can fly
Rodeo Angels to sing through the sky

Chorus:
Life is a gamble for any and all
Sometimes you turn out
Sometimes you fall
Sometimes the best you can do is hang on
Rodeo Heaven’s where Angels belong

Verse 2:
Mommy and Daddy are takin’ it hard
Though deep in their hearts they know where you are
So stop for a moment as you’re passin’ through
Cadillac Cowboy a flyin’ through the blue

Repeat Chorus

Verse 3:
Take your wings with you sweet little child
Jesus will hold you so meek and so mild
Then when you hear that old Rodeo bell
Climb on that wing-bronc and spur him like Hell

Repeat Chorus

Verse 1:
Salt packin’, mule-skinnin’, son of the Sage
I’m tall in the saddle here beside you
But just a city boy from another day and age
Awestruck with wonder as we ride through

Sweetwater stories of Great Basin Buckaroos
I’m lost in the tales that you tell
Life is a dusty trail you wouldn’t always choose
A little bit of heaven and a little bit of hell

Chorus:
Benny can you take me to the top of the world
The Eastern Sierras where the mountains and the sky
Come together forever like old friends in the wind
Benny can you take me there again

Verse 2:
Don’t get your lead-rope caught beneath that horse’s tail
Don’t rein him up hard if you do
This is the canyon I remember oh so well
When I was a wooly buckaroo

My Basquo Father was New Mexican clean through
He taught us horses all along
I love my Linda and my baby Bonnie too
Maybe you can put them in a song

Repeat Chorus:

Bridge:
Benny I don’t understand the changin’ of the times
Why little boys get cancer why the Hell did mine
Benny I don’t think I ever want to go back home
I wanna ride here with you til the river turns to stone

Final Chorus:

Verse 1:
Feel again another Spring wind
The snow disappears on the Southern Rim
Air him out in the fields when the mornin’ ice thins
Load him quiet and tight ‘fore you shut him in
Take a ride down the alkali road
Put your hand in the air ‘til you cover this load
Unload at the state line cross
Where the last winter snow will catch ya’ if you get tossed

Chorus 1:
Then you ride on through the meadow
Where the real free world begins
And it’s cold out here on the Buckaroo fringe
Yeah it’s still cold here on the Buckaroo fringe

Verse 2:
Settle in to the old long trot
There’s a summer ahead ‘til you see what he’s got
In the brandin’ pen on the black-rock slide
And the trail and the gather on the long divide
Green buds on the aspen stand
Feel the tension rise with a loop in your hand
Now you turn back to the state line cross
With a fire in your heart and a pretty good hoss

Chorus 2:
And you ride back through the meadow
Cleansed of all your sins
And it’s cold out here on the Buckaroo Fringe
Yeah it’s still cold here on the Buckaroo Fringe

Bridge:
We come alive in the early Spring when we’re tired ridin’ circles in a little round ring
And it’s in the blood of the Buckaroo heart to be out in the world when it makes a new start

Final Verse:
Sun settin’ down the Centerline Road
With a mud-track freezin’ in the twilight glow
And a Dunn colt kickin’ on the last bend home
At the end of his first ride out alone
Turn him out in the stone corral
Where he kicks and knickers at his long lost pals
Then you close the gate and let the night begin
And it’s cold out here on the Buckaroo Fringe
Yeah it’s still cold here on the Buckaroo Fringe

Verse 1:
Carissa don’t you remember me there
Flat on my back by that old rockin’ chair
With tears in my eyes and tubes in my arm
And my Mommy close by a keepin’ me warm

Carissa I waited the whole winter long
For you to come back and sing me a song
The Spring and the Summer they beckoned you home
You left me lonesome a singin’ alone

Chorus:
Carissa I carry your song in my heart
I’m a survivor
We’ve both come so far
And now you are married I know he loves you
Always remember that I love you too

Verse 2:
Carissa I’m ridin’ my horses again
I walk on my own though I fall now and then
They say that miracles happen you know
Hold onto my memory never let go

Repeat Chorus

Verse 3:
Carissa I love you I’m lettin’ you go
Go make your life now while I learn and grow
And someday I’ll marry a sweet girl too
Carissa I hope that she’s so much like you

Final Chorus

Verse 1:
Allie I’ll be around
Close when you need me
Close as the sound
Of teardrops fallin’ down slow
Sweet little princess
Don’t you know

Chorus 1:
That if there are horses in heaven
Dapples and Sorrels and Bays
Quarters and Ponies
Trotters and Paints
Round ones and skinnies
Short ones and tall
If there are horses in heaven
You won’t have to miss me at all

Verse 2:
Mommy this is your song
Sing when you need me
I’ll sing a long
Like a cool breeze across your sweet face
Or sun on your shoulder
That once was my place

Chorus 2:
And if there are puppies in heaven
Fast ones and shy ones and strays
Spaniels and Collies
Boxers and Goldens
Round ones and skinnies
Short ones and tall
If there are puppies in heaven
You won’t have to miss me at all

Bridge:
Maybe some days
Days that we all used to love
Christmas and birthdays
That will be more than enough

Final Chorus:
Cause if there are horses in heaven
Dapples and Sorrels and Bays
Quarters and Ponies
Trotters and Paints
Round ones and skinnies
Old ones and new
If there are horses in heaven
I’ll be here waiting for you