He told a good story and all of us kids listened 'Bout his life on the border and the way it was then And we all believed him and when he would finish We'd ask the old cowboy to tell 'em again You could almost hear those prairie winds blowin' His saddle a creakin' 'neath his old faded jeans You could taste the dry dust from the trail he was ridin' As he sat there and painted those west Texas scenes
(chorus) And the grown-ups would tell us You boys keep your distance, that old man's just tellin' you lies But to all of us kids Cowboy Bill was a hero Just as true as his blue Texas skies
He told of a time when he rode with the Rangers Down on the pecos and he saved the day Outnumbered by plenty, they were almost too cover With thirty banditos headed their way He looked back just in time to see a horse stumble The captain went down and Bill pulled up on his rains And through a flurry of bullets he rescued the captain And they rode for a sunset, just the story remains
*chorus* Well I still remember the day that it happened We waited and we waited but Bill never showed And the folks at the feed store said they hadn't seen him So we set out for his place down Old Grist Mill Road
And we cried when we found him lying there with his mem'ries The old trunk wide open, things scattered about He was clutchin' a badge that said Texas Ranger And an old "yeller" letter said Texas Is Proud
And those grownups that told us you boys keep your distance that old man's just telling you lies now they're all saying that Cowboy Bill was a hero just as true as his blue Texas skies