Back about eighteen and twenty-five I left Tennessee very much alive I never would have made it through the Arkansas mud If I hadn't been ridin on the Tennessee stud
I had some trouble with my sweetheart's pa One of her brothers was a bad outlaw I wrote a letter to 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 horse like the Tennessee stud
Drifted on down into no man's land Across the river called the Rio Grande I raced my horse with the Spaniards fold Till I got me a skin full of silver and gold
Me and the gambler we couldn't agree We got in a fight over Tennessee We pulled our guns, an' he fell with a thud And I rode away on the Tennessee stud
CHORUS
I rode right 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
Pretty little baby on the cabin floor Little horse colt playin' 'round the door I love the girl with golden hair And the Tennessee stud loves the Tennessee mare