On a highway through the desert beneath an overpass Sat two hikers just watchin' cars go by Now one was wearin' sandles with straggly matted hair Rose colored glasses for his eyes
Now the other was a cowboy, he'd been down on his luck Lost his money at the Tuscon Rodeo And he sat beside what remained of his trusty pickup truck And like the hippie now he's thumbin' down the road
Now some folks don't realize but it's a well know fact Cowboy's and hippies ain't never got along Now was it just coincidence or some weird act of fate That brought these two together on the road?
Well they sat there without talking while the morning sun rose high When a hot desert breeze commenced to blow And the fragrance of the incense and six weeks without a bath Finally drifted down and reached the cowboy's nose
Well, man that really did it, he couldn't take no more And he tied his old bandana 'round his face Said, "You greasy stinking hippie you'd put a skunk to shame Boy, you're a discrace to the human race"
Now the hippie he just sat there and gave the cowboy a smile Said, "Man you don't smell so sweet yourself Well I'm not too sure what that green stuff is on your boots And on your jeans but whew it's enough to make a buzzard belch"
The cowboy said, "Now listen I ain't gonna that that stuff from you No long haired freak's gonna talk to me that way, get up" Well the hippie said, "Now hold on man, what good's that gonna do You know fighting never settles nothing anyway"
Said, "You know man, in a lot of ways we're an awful lot alike Once you get down beneath the skin Like two books with different covers but the same words inside We're both brothers of the wind"
"Now we both love our freedom and we'll answer to no man And you've heard it said to thine own self be true We're just a couple of free spirts drifting across the land Doing exactly what we want to do"
Said, "Now me I got my thing and you, you got yours And I don't see why we can't get along They say the closest thing to freedom is livin' on the road In a country where freedom's almost gone"
Well the cowboy, he just stood up there and never said a word But you know this hippie sure made a lot of sense Well they shook hands and parted as a truck pulled to the side And the hippie he went east and I went west