Along about eighteen and twenty-five
i left tennessee very much alive
i never would have got through the arkansas mud
if i hadn't been a-ridin on the tennessee stud
I had some trouble with my sweetheart's pa
one of her brothers was a bad outlaw
i sent her a letter by my uncle fud
and i rode away on the tennessee stud
Chorus:
the tennessee stud was long and lean
the color of the sun and his eyes were green
he had the nerve and he had the blood
and there never was a hoss like the tennessee stud
One day i was ridin' in the beautiful land
and ran smack into an indian band
they jerked their knives with a whoop and a yell
but i rode away like a bat out of hell
Well i circled their camp for a time or two
and showed what a tennessee hoss could do
and them redskin boys never got my blood
'cause i was a-ridin' on the tennessee stud
Chorus
We drifted on down into no man's land
we crossed the river called the rio grande
i raced my hoss with the spaniards bold
till i got me a skin full of silver and gold
Me and a gambler we couldn't agree
we got in a fight over tennessee
we jerked our guns, he fell with a thud
and i got away on the tennessee stud
Chorus
Well, i got as lonesome as a man can be
dreamin' of my girl in tennessee
the tennessee stud's green eyes turned blue
'cause he was a-dneamin' of a sweetheart too
We loped on back across arkansas
i whipped her brother and i whipped her pa
i found that girl with the golden hair
and she was ridin' on a tennessee mare
Chorus
Stirrup to stirrup and side by side
we crossed the mountains and the valleys wide
we came to big muddy and we forded the flood
on the tennessee mare and the tennessee stud
Pretty little baby on the cabin floor
little hoss colt playin' 'round the door
i love the girl with golden hair
and the tennessee stud loves the tennessee mare
Chorus