Say a pra yer for the cowboy his mare's run away
And he'll wa lk till he finds her his darling his stray
But the ri ver's in flood and the roads are awash
And the bri dges break up in the pa nic of lo ss
And there 's nothing to follow there's nowhere to go
She's gone l ike the summer gone like the snow
And the cr ickets are breaking his heart with their song
As the day caves in and the nig ht is all wrong
Did he dr eam was it she who went galloping past
And bent dow n the fern and broke open the grass
And printe d the mud with the iron and the gold
That he nai led to her feet when he wa s the lord
And altho ugh she goes grazing a minute away
He tracks he r all night and he tracks her all day
Oh blind t o her presence except to compare
His injury here with her punish ment t here
Then at h ome on his branch in the highest tree
A songbird s ings out so suddenly
Oh the sun is warm and the soft winds ride
On the will ow trees by the rive rsid e
Oh the wo rld is sweet and the world is wide
And she's th ere where the light and the darkness divide
And the st eam's coming off her she's huge and she's shy
And she ste ps on the moon when she pa ws at the sky
And she c omes to his hand but she's not really tame
She longs to be lost and he longs for the same
And she'll bolt and she'll plunge through the first open pass
To roll and to feed in the swee t moun tain grass
Or she'll make a break for the high plateau
Where there' s nothing above and there's nothing below
And it's t ime for their burden it's time for the whip
Will she wa lk through the flam e can he shoot from the hip
So he bin ds himself to the galloping mare
And she bind s herself to the rider there
And there is no space but there's left and right
And there i s no time but there' s day and night
And he le ans on her neck and he whispers low
Wither thou goest I will go
And they t urn as one and they head for the plain
No need for the whip no need f or the rein
Now the c lasp of this union who fastens it tight
Who snaps it asunder the very next night
Some say t he rider some say the mare
Or that lov e's like the smoke beyond all repair
But my da rling says Leonard just let it go by
That old sil houette on the great Western sky
So I pick out a tune and they move right along
And they're gone like the smoke and t hey're gone like this song
