Road hard, and I put up wet, I ain't down but I can't get up yet It's a long ride back to the way I want to feel Sun down across the plain, I've bee sore before I'll be sore again No place to hide to keep from runnin' Laid down in the cotton wood hollow, I left a trail no man could follow Is it safe to rest my head again till morning Cracked throat and my canteen's dry and Rain don't fall from an empty sky So I'll whisper Hail Marys till the sun comes up Now don't tell me that part of the story when the cowboy falls in love When he traded in his pistol and his saddle and the stars above When the candle's burnin' down, when midnight comes around You know the best that we can hope for Is to be laughin' when we finally hit the ground Road hard, come down tired, strip from the saddle when the rifle fired Deep in dreams of women and clean water Well I did before what I'll do again So forgive me father if I have sinned But the old wood cracks before it bends Now don't tell me that part of the story when the cowboy falls in love When he traded in his pistol and his saddle and the stars above When the candle's burnin' down, when midnight comes around You know the best that we can hope for Is to be laughin' when we finally hit the ground Now don't tell me that part of the story when the cowboy falls in love When he traded in his pistol and his saddle and the stars above When the candle's burnin' down, when midnight comes around You know the best that we can hope for Is to be laughin' when we finally hit Yeah the candle's burnin' down, now midnight comes around You know the best that we can hope for Is to be laughin' when we finally hit the ground, yea The candle's burnin' down, and when midnight comes around