RIDIN' DRAG TO ABILENE

I started punchin’ cows when I was young in my years

I was full of piss n’ vinegar but still wet behind the ears

The herd boss saw my green; my lack of knowledge of the steer

Put me to workin’ in the back, ridin’ drag in the rear

Now ridin’ drag is an important job; pushin’ up the stragglers

But come suppertime; the cowboys turn into hagglers

Making jokes about the dirty pokes for all around to hear

Laughing at the dirty scoundrels ridin’ drag in the rear

Every good cowboy has done his share ridin’ in the back

Keepin' pace with the herd and those slowpoke cows on track

It’s the worst job on the trail but surely one that they need

The only advantage is that it’s a good place to watch a stampede

Herdin’ up the Chisholm on our way to the railhead in Abilene

Us drag cowboys have ate more dust than most men have seen

Day in and day out, the same old thing, for weeks upon that trail

Dust, dust and more dust until we finally get these cows to rail

Now I ain’t sayin’ that I can’t handle eatin’ a little bit of herd dust

It’s good experience and it brings out the best in all of us

But sometimes that dust is so thick it cakes on what we expose

And the only way you can breathe is with a bandanna on your nose

Old dry summer and the draught ain’t doin’ nothin’ for the dust

Not one drop of rain from those blues skies that we often cuss

Just a bit of rainfall would surely eliminate frustration and disgust

And make life in the rear a lot easier by washing away this dust

As tough as it is to breathe back here, I’ll not sit and complain

Except maybe just to say that I wish we could get some rain

But those other drovers who laugh at us as they ride in the clear

Will never conclude that this poke can’t cut it in the rear

We’ve been weeks upon this trail; I feel I’ve swallowed a dirt road

If all the dust was piled in one place it would make a hellava load

A thousand head on the hoof pounding up the Chisholm Trail

Leave a lot of dust behind them before they make it to the rail

You can bet that we’ll get ‘em there on time; each and every one

Then we’ll stop off at a saloon in Abilene and have us some fun

I can just imagine how good that first beer is gonna seem

When I wash this dust out of my throat and blow off a little steam

Then we’ll head back down the trail to where we all got started

To gather up another herd and get them northern departed

But things will be different this time around; of that I am pretty sure

All my experience is paying off for the boss took me off the rear

One day I hope to be the boss and trail herds northbound

To get them to the railhead in that far north Abilene town

And when I do, I'll hire some drovers who are wet behind the ears

And teach how to herd cattle by ridin’ drag, eatin’ dust in the rear

© Copyright WBrown2011. All Rights Reserved.