He was black as the sky on a moonless night   Real good with the horses, he never reined them too tight   And he rode with the best, Hell he rode with me   And they got it all wrong in that book of history      It wasn't cowboys and ponies, it was horses and men   It wasn't school boys and ladies, it was cow town's and sin   And there was blood on the leather and tears in her eyes   We swore at the Devil and then we went for a ride      We told some tales, he told them best   Real life can always use a good stretch   But that don't change the things we did   'Cause the truest thing was the life that we lived      It wasn't cowboys and ponies, it was horses and men   It wasn't school boys and ladies, it was cow town's and sin   And there was blood on the leather and tears in her eyes   We swore at the Devil and then we went for a ride      It's more than one kind of pain, more than one kind of theft   And it's bitter as the night sweet Jesus wept   She stole my heart, age stole the fire   They stole my prairie when they strung all that wire      It wasn't cowboys and ponies, it was horses and men   It wasn't school boys and ladies, it was cow town's and sin   And there was blood on the leather and tears in her eyes   We swore at the Devil and then we went for a ride   Lord, we swore at the Devil and then we went for a ride