Saying your a rodeo rider
Makes it sound so much fun
But living hand to mouth
I assure you isnt fun at all
Make sure your timid horse
Is well fed and warm
Your second in this pecking order
Keeping well is your aim
Driving from one venue
To another i assure you isnt good
But the visions that you see at night
Makes the journey understood
The rising and the setting sum
Is a feast for the eyes
A mental picture that you carry
When your mouth is dusty and dry
When saddling up that muscular horse
To ride into the arena
An adrenaline rush is prevalent
To ride those 8 seconds clean
The satisfaction of big money
When winners are announced
Makes all worthwhile for you
To saddle up for another event
So I tap my hat
Pack up my gear
Pick up a six pack
A few hours to sleep.
Before the next journey
So watch out
A Rodeoman is coming to town.
Bullets hit bones like hurricanes hit homes
I drink the milk of madness...it leaves me lost and all alone
Born to ramble and bound to roam
Always seeking answers in a question mark storm
Stricken by lightning
Some fools never learn to slow down or stop
Because one is too many and one thousand's not enough
Running on empty and ridin on e...I'm a slave to my sins and i used to be free
Subtracting and dividing until everything is gone
I'm broke,bent,and beaten...still singing that sad song
Now the wrong seems right and the right seems wrong
Somebody just made that 911 call
Waking up in a cell feeling ragged and rough
Because one is too many and one thousand's not enough
Out of control like a rodeo rider
I slide on thin ice...small cracks gettin wider
my heartbeat stops and my blood goes cold
If I live another day this story's gettin told
Now I fold like a napkin because my soul got sold
Trading love and happiness for the garbage I called gold.
In dark desperation I cry out to God...and I hope that He's home
He hears every word and he knows life is tough
Because one is too many and one thousand is never enough
Travel trailers, trophy buckles
And Blue Ribbon bottles,
Litter my ol’ lonely landscape
Of rodeo battles.
I lost a few and won a few
And traveled down the road—
I lived for that 8-second ride—
Thought town jobs were a load.
I cowboyed up and cowboyed down—
Touched too many a heart—
I never realized all those dreams—
Greet folks at the WalMart.
Trailers, trophies and stale warm beer—
Rodeo don’t seem real—
They’re all just empty as my life—
Now I know how cows feel.