Oh, I am a lonely cowboy and I'm of off the Texas Trail, My trade is cinchin' saddles and pullin' bridle reins; For I can twist a lasso with the greatest skill and ease, Or rope and ride a bronco most anywhere I please. 2 Oh, I love the rolling prairie that's far from trial and strife, Behind a bunch of longhorns I'll journey all my life. But if I had a stake, boys, soon married I would be To the sweetest girl in this wide world, just fell in love with me. 3 Oh, when we get on the trail, boys, the dusty billows ride, It's fifty miles from water and the grass is scorching dry; Oh, the boss is mad and ringy, you all can plainly see, I'll have to pull out the longhorns, I'm a cowboy here to be. 4 But when it comes a rain, boys, one of the gentle kind, When the lakes are full of water and the grass is waving fine, Oh, the boss'll shed his frown, boys, and a pleasant smile you'll see, I'll have to pull out the longhorns, I'm a cowboy here to be. 5 Oh, when we get 'em bedded we sink down for the night, Some horse'll shake his saddle, it'll give the herd a fright, They'll bound to their feet, boys, and madly stampede away, In one moment's time, boys, you can hear a cowboy say: 6 Oh, when we get them bedded we feel most inclined, When a cloud'll rise in the west, boys, and the fire play on their horns. Oh, the old boss rides around them, your pay you'll get in gold, So I'll have to pull out the longhorns until I am too old.
Columbia 2310D, Ken Maynard. Austin E. and Alta S. Fife, 1969, pp. 306-308, with musical score and chords. The Fifes' comment: ""Lone Star Trail" encompases a cluster of song subjects that range from the painful separation of lovers to the grim realism of life on the trail. Typically in these songs, trailing and cowpunching loom as compulsions that drive men onward and away from the amenities of a highly organized society." .....