BALLAD OF A RUNAWAY HORSE
Written by Leonard Cohen as "Ballad of the Absent Mare," adapted by Emmylou Harris
As sung by Emmylou Harris on "Cowgirl's Prayer" and "Songbird: Rare Tracks & Forgotten Gems"

1. Say a prayer for the cowgirl; her horse ran away.
She'll walk till she finds him, her darlin', her stray,
But the river's in flood and the roads are awash,
And the bridges break up in the panic of loss.

2. And there's nothin' to follow, nowhere to go.
He's gone like the summer, gone like the snow,
And the crickets are breaking her heart with their song
As the day caves in, and the night is all wrong.

3. Did she dream? Was it he who went galloping past,
And bent down the fern, broke open the grass,
And printed the mud with the well-hammered shoe
That she nailed to his feet in the dreams of her youth?

4. And although he goes grazin' a minute away,
She tracks him all night; she tracks him all day,
And she's blind to his presence except to compare
Her injury here with his punishment there.

5. Then at home on a branch, on a highest tree,
A songbird sings out so suddenly,
And the sun is warm, and the soft winds ride,
On a willow tree by the riverside.

6. Ah, the world is sweet, and the world is wide.
He's there where the light and the darkness divide,
And the steam's comin' off him; he's huge and he's shy,
And he steps on the moon when he paws at the sky.

7. And he comes to her hand but he's not really tame,
He longs to be lost; she longs for the same,
And he'll bolt and he'll plunge through the first open pass,
To roll and to feed in the sweet mountain grass.

8. Or he'll make a break for the high plateau,
Where there's nothing above, and nothing below.
It's time for their burden: the whip and the spur.
Will she ride with him, or will he ride with her?

9. So she binds herself to her galloping steed,
And he binds himself to the woman in need,
And there is no space, just left and right,
And there is no time but there is day and night.

10. Then she leans on his neck and whispers low:
"Whither thou goest, I will go,"
And they turn as one, and they head for the plain,
No need for the whip, oh, no need for the rein.

11. Now the clasp of this union, who fastens it tight?
Who snaps it asunder the very next night?
Some say it's him; some say it's her.
Some say love's like smoke, beyond all repair.

12. So my darlin', my darlin', just let it go by,
That old silhouette on the great western sky,
And I'll pick out a tune and they'll move right along,
And they're gone like smoke and they're gone like this song.

Say a prayer for the cowgirl.

[Also sung, with the same title, by Juni Fisher on "Cowgirlography," and by Jennifer Warnes on "Famous Blue Raincoat."]