Rode hard and put up wet, I ain't down but I can't get up yet
It's a long ride back to the way I want to feel
Sun down across the plain, I've been sore before I'll be sore again
No place to hide to keep from runnin'
Laid down in the cottonwood hollow though I left a trail no man could follow,
Is it safe to rest my head again till morning
Cracked throat and my canteen's dry and
Rain don't fall from an empty sky, so I'll whisper Hail Marys till the sun comes up

Now don't tell me that part of the story when the cowboy falls in love
When he traded in his pistol and his saddle and the stars above
When the candle's burnin' down, when midnight comes around
You know the best that we can hope for is to be laughin' when we finally hit the ground

Rode hard come down tired, stripped from the saddle when the rifle fired,
Deep in dreams of women and clean water
Well I did before what I'll do again
So forgive me Father if I have sinned, but the old wood cracks before it bends

Now don't tell me that part of the story when the cowboy falls in love
When he traded in his pistol and his saddle and the stars above
When the candle's burnin' down, when midnight comes around
You know the best that we can hope for is to be laughin' when we finally hit

Yeah the candle's burnin' down, now midnight comes around
You know the best that we can hope for is to be laughin' when we finally hit the ground

The candle's burnin' down, and when midnight comes around