Tennessee Stud
Jimmy Driftwood, 1959· Songs Well-Known in America · p.322
D C D
Back about eighteen and twenty-five,
C
I left Tennessee very much alive
D
I never would have got through the Arkansas mud
C D
If I hadn't been a-ridin' on the Tennessee stud
D C D
I had some trouble with my sweetheart's pa,
C
One of her brothers was a bad outlaw
D
I sent her a letter by my Uncle Fud
C D
And I rode away on the Tennessee stud
Chorus:
D C D
The Tennessee Stud was long and lean,
G F E
the color of the sun and its eyes were green
D
He had the nerve & he had the blood,
C D
there never was a horse like the Tennessee Stud
We drifted on down into no-man's land,
We crossed the river called the Rio Grande
I raced my hoss with the Spaniards bold,
'Til I got me a skin full of silver & gold
Me & a gambler, we couldn't agree,
We got in a fight over Tennessee
We jerked our guns, he fell with a thud,
And I got away on the Tennessee stud
Well, I got as lonesome as a man can be,
Dreamin' of my girl in Tennessee
The Tennessee stud's green eyes turned blue,
Cuz he was a dreamin' of a sweetheart too
We loped right on across Arkansas,
I whipped her brother & I whipped her pa
I found that girl with the golden hair,
And she was ridin' on a Tennessee mare
Stirrup to stirrup & side by side,
We crossed the mountains & the valleys wide
We came to Big Muddy & we forded the flood,
On the Tennessee mare & the Tennessee stud
Pretty little baby on the cabin floor,
Little hoss colt playin' round the door
I love the girl with golden hair,
And the Tennessee stud loves the Tennessee mare