Three thousand head
Drowned or nearly dead
We watched the winter thaw pull them down the draw
We pushed on through
No sake for steer or crew
Lost the herd to the crossing
We had to cut 'em loose
Our bodys froze
There was stiffness in our clothes
No feeling in our fingertips, numbness in our toes
We all mourned
In suffering and sorrow
With contempt for tomorrow
For the losses we had known
I'll never forget all of those cowboy days
But the older I get I realize some things just don't pay
But there's always dues
You win some and you lose
Two hundred feet
twenty deep
We tested the make of every man
We held on tight
Wasn't nothing we could do
We just kept on riding
Until we were black and blue
I'll never forget all of those cowboy days
But the older I get I realize some things just don't pay
But there's always dues
You win some and you lose