Ballad of Jack Thorp lyrics

Long ago there was a man who rode throughout the west

Collecting songs and poetry and verses of the range

He wrote "Little Joe the Wrangler" and the "Pecos River Queen"

A ballad huntin' cowboy and Jack Thorp was his name

Jack was a big man, a friendly sort of guy

He had a way with horses, played a banjo-mandolin

A sure-nuff cowpuncher from his boots to his wide-brimmed hat

A singin' buckaroo and a pardner of the wind

One night while trailin' horses he rode up to a camp

On the night air a cowboy song came driftin' soft and low

A song he never head before 'bout a steel dust cuttin' horse

The fastest one in Texas by the name of "Dodgin' Joe"

Well the banjo-playin' cowboy knew two verses of the song

He sang 'em once again while Jack wrote down the words

How many songs were written yet never written down?

Jack knew there must be plenty more out there he hadn't heard

Next mornin' he had breakfast he wrote a letter to his boss

"I've made up my mind to keep driftin' on my own

I've quit huntin' horses, started huntin' cowboy songs

When you see my dust arrivin' I'll be comin' home"

A cowboy song is just like gold, it's anywhere it's found

From a cow camp down in Texas to a saloon in Idaho

So with ol' Gray Dog, his saddle horse and his pack horse Ample too

They traveled down those ballad trails in search of "Dodgin' Joe"

Now Jack became the first to collect the cowboy songs

Songs about the hard life and the free life on the range

Because of him a living part of cowboy life was saved

And now I feel the time has come for me to do the same

Those songs are harder now to find then they were long ago

And I know I'll ride in vain to find the men who made the songs

Although they've crossed the big divide and the free life may be gone

Their ballads still survived for you and me to pass along

'Cause a cowboy song is still like gold, it's anywhere it's found

From a cow camp down in Texas to a saloon in Idaho

With my trusty pet horse Red and my pack horse Peco too

We'll travel down those ballad trails like Jack did long ago