Ballad of a Runaway Horse

Say a prayer for the cowgirl, her horse ran away She'll walk 'til 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 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 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 speed in the dreams of her youth 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 Then at home on a branch on a high stream A songbird sings out so suddenly And the sun is warm and the soft winds ride On a willow tree by the riverside Ah, the world is sweet, and the world is wide And 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 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 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? 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 Then she leans on his neck and whispers low Whither thou goest, I will go And they turn as one the head for the plain No need for the whip, oh no need for the rein 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 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