Gabe Paul

Cowboy Bill

He told a good story and all of us kids listened
'Bout his life on the border and the way it was then
And we all believed him and when he would finish
We'd ask the old cowboy to tell 'em again
You could almost hear those prairie winds blowin'
His saddle a creakin' 'neath his old faded jeans
You could taste the dry dust from the trail he was ridin'
As he sat there and painted those west Texas scenes
And the grown-ups would tell us
You boys keep your distance, that old man's just tellin' you lies
But to all of us kids Cowboy Bill was a hero
Just as true as his blue Texas skies
He told of a time when he rode with the Rangers
Down on the pecos and he saved the day
Outnumbered by plenty, they were almost too cover
With thirty banditos headed their way
He looked back just in time to see a horse stumble
The captain went down and Bill pulled up on his rains
And through a flurry of bullets he rescued the captain
And they rode for a sunset, just the story remains
And the grown-ups would tell us
You boys keep your distance, that old man's just tellin' you lies
But to all of us kids Cowboy Bill was a hero
Just as true as his blue Texas skies
Well I still remember the day that it happened
We waited and we waited but Bill never showed
And the follks at the feed store said they hadn't seen him
So we set out for his place down Old Grist Mill Road
And we cried when we found him lying there with his mem'ries
The old trunk wide open, things scattered about
He was clutchin' a badge that said Texas Ranger
And an old "yeller" letter said Texas Is Proud
And the grown-ups that told us
You boys keep your distance, that old man's just tellin' lies
Well now they're all sayin' Cowboy Bill was a hero
Just as true as his blue Texas skies