Jim Henry - Quickdraw Southpaw's Last Hurrah
[Intro]
C F C Am C G C F C Am C G C
[Verse 1]
F C
Billy begged his daddy, "Daddy, let's go
Am C G C
To Quickdraw Southpaw's Wild West Show
F C
Big Chief Barker and (F)Buffalo (C)Slim"
(Am)Billy said, (C)"Man I wanna (G)be like (C)them"
[Verse 2]
F C
"Son, my son it's a crying shame
Am C Dm G
The range is fenced and the west is tamed"
C F C
"Daddy, oh daddy, didn't you know
Am C G C
There ain't no fences in a cowboy's soul"
[Chorus]
Em F C
Whoa boys, look at him ride
Am C Dm G
On a sawdust prairie in a big top sky
Em F C
Whoa boys, the whole town saw
F C G F
The first ovation to the final call
G C
And Quickdraw Southpaw's last hurrah
[Instrumental]
C F C Am C G C
[Verse 3]
F C
Billy signed on the day he turned sixteen
Am C Dm G
Didn't know a cinch from a latigo lead
C F C
But he learned how to rope, to canter and shoot
Am C G C
Till he looked right familiar in the boss man's boots
[Chorus]
Em F C
Whoa boys, look at him ride
Am C Dm G
On a sawdust prairie in a big top sky
Em Am F Em
Whoa boys, the heart walks tall
F C G F
From an old man's folly to a young man's fall
G C
And Quickdraw Southpaw's last hurrah
[Instrumental]
C F C Am C G C
{Bridge]
Am Em
Double trouble and the Texas skip
F C
He worked the circuit on the hayseed strip
Am Em
The carney route over New Madrid
F C
For fifty good years he was the two-gun kid
[Verse 4]
C F C
For fifty good years he watched the clock wind down
Am C Dm G
Skyscrapers climbing over one-horse towns
C F C
The times got meaner and the crowds got small
Am C G C
Billy never seemed to notice at all
[Chorus]
Em F C
Whoa, boys, look at him ride
Am C Dm G
On a sawdust prairie in a big top sky
Em Am F Em
Whoa, boys, you can't get far
F C G F
On a bone-tired pony and a falling star
G C
And Quickdraw Southpaw's last hurrah
[Instrumental]
Em F C Am Em F G
[Verse 5]
C F C
Now his spurs don't jingle like they used to do
Am C G C
The sky's in tatters and the moon peeks through
F C
Every night he saddles up old Joe
Am C G C
Saying, "Giddy-up partner, just one more show"
[Verse 6]
F C
Up in the bleachers in the very front row
Am C Dm G
Sits a wide-eyed boy with his daddy in tow
C F C
And the kid goes home and he dreams again
Am C G C
Of a lonely rider on the wayward wind
F G C
He says, "Some day I'm gonna be like him"
[Chorus]
Em F C
Whoa boys, look at him ride
Am C Dm G
On a sawdust prairie in a big top sky
Em Am F Em
Whoa, boys, it's a natural law
F C G F
The dream keeps going though the dreamer stalls
G F
And the night comes in and the curtain falls
G C
And Quickdraw Southpaw's last hurrah
[Outro]
C F C Am C G C
C F C Am C G C