Lyrics I'm Bound to Follow the Longhorn Cows - Alan Lomax

I'm Bound to Follow the Longhorn Cows

I’m bound to follow the longhorn cows until I get too old
It’s well I work for wages, boys, and get my pay in gold
My bosses they all like me well;
they say I’m hard to beat
Because I give 'em the bum stand-off, they know I’ve got the cheek
Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay, Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay
Now I’m a Texas cowboy, just off the stormy plains
My trade is girtin' saddles and pullin' bridle reins
Oh, I can tip the lasso;
it is with graceful ease
I can rope a streak of lightnin' and ride 'er where I please
Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay, Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay
Now if I had me a little stake, I soon would married be
But another week and I must go;
the boss said so today
My girl must cheer up courage and choose some other one
For I’m bound to follow the Lone Star Trail until my race is won
Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay, Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay
It’s when we’re on the trail where the dust and the billows fly
It’s fifty miles from water and the grass is scorchin' dry;
The boss gets mad and ringy as you can plainly see
And I want to leave the trail, my boys, and an honest farmer be
Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay, Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay
And when we get them bedded, boys, we think it’s for the night
Some horse will shake his saddle and give that herd a fright
They’ll rise up to their feet, my boys, and madly dash away
Then it’s movin' time;
«To the lead, my boys,» you’ll hear some cowboy say
Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay, Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay
And when we get them rounded up and quietened down again
A dark cloud will rise in the west, and fire will play on their horns
The boss will say, «Stay with 'em, boys;
your pay will be in gold.»
I’m bound to follow the longhorn steer until I get too old
Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay, Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay
When I get in Kansas, I had a pleasant dream
I dreamt I’s down on the Trinity, down by that pleasant stream
My true love right beside me, she’d come to go my bail
But I woke up broken-hearted with a yearling by the tail
Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay, Ki-yi-yippee, yippee-yay