Say a prayer for the cowboy, his mares run away
And hell walk til he finds her, his darling, his stray
But the rivers in flood and the roads are awash
And the bridges break up in the panic of loss
And theres nothing to follow, theres nowhere to go
Shes gone like the summer, gone like the snow
And the crickets are breaking his heart with their song
As the day caves in and the night is all wrong
Did he dream, was it she who went galloping past?
And bent down the fern, broke open the grass
And printed the mud with the iron and the gold
That he nailed to her feet when he was the lord
And although she goes grazing a minute away
He tracks her all night, he tracks her all day
Oh, blind to her presence, except to compare
His injury here with her punishment there
Then at home on a branch, in the highest tree
A songbird sings out, so suddenly
Ah, the sun is warm and the soft winds ride
On the willow trees by the river side
Oh, the world is sweet, the world is wide
And shes there where the light and the darkness divide
And the steams coming off her, shes huge and shes shy
And she steps on the moon when she paws at the sky
And she comes to his hand but shes not really tame
She longs to be lost, he longs for the same
And shell bolt and shell plunge through the first open pass
To roll and to feed in the sweet mountain grass
Or shell make a break for the high plateau
Where theres nothing above and theres nothing below
And its time for the burden, its time for the whip
Will she walk through the flame? Can he shoot from the hip?
So he binds himself to the galloping mare
And she binds herself to the rider there
And there is no space but theres left and right
And there is no time but theres day and night
And he leans on her neck and he whispers low
Whither thou goest, I will go
And they turn as one and they head for the plain
No need for the whip, ah, 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 the rider, some say the mare
Or that loves like the smoke, beyond all repair
But my darling says, Leonard, just let it go by
That old silhouette on the great Western sky?
So I pick out a tune and they move right along
And theyre gone like the smoke
And theyre gone like this song