Back about eighteen and twenty five

I left Tennessee very much alive

I never would've made it through the Arkansas mud

If I hadn't been riding on the Tennessee stud

Had some trouble with my sweetheart's Pa

One of her brothers was a bad outlaw

I wrote a letter to my uncle Spud

And I rode away on the Tennessee stud

The Tennessee Stud was long and lean

The color of the sun and his eyes were green

He had the nerve and he had the blood

There never was a horse like Tennessee stud

Drifted on down into no man's land

Across the river called the Rio Grande

Raced my horse with the Spaniard's foe

'Til I got me a skin full of silver and gold

Me and the gambler, we couldn't agree

We got in a fight over Tennessee

Pulled our guns and he fell with a thud

And I rode away on a Tennessee stud

The Tennessee stud was long and lean

The color of the sun and his eyes were green

He had the nerve and he had the blood

There was never a horse like the Tennessee stud

I rode right back across Arkansas

I whipped her brother and I whipped her Pa

I found that girl with the golden hair

She was riding on a Tennessee mare

Pretty little baby on the cabin floor

Little horse colt playing round the door

I loved the girl with the golden hair

And the Tennessee stud loves the Tennessee mare

The Tennessee stud was long and lean

The color of the sun and his eyes were green

He had the nerve and he had the blood

There was never a horse like the Tennessee stud