Digital Tradition Mirror

The Strawberry Roan

(This score available as ABC, SongWright, PostScript, PNG, or PMW, or a MIDI file)
Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

The Strawberry Roan
(Curly Fletcher)

I was standin' 'round town just a-spendin' my time,
Nothin' else to spend, not even a dime
When a feller steps up and he says, "I suppose
You're a bronc' bustin' man by the looks of your clothes."
"You guessed me right, and a good one," I claim,
"Do you happen to have ay bad ones to tame?"
He says, "I've got one and a bad one to buck;
At throwin' bronc riders he's had lots of luck."

cho:
     Well, it's oh, that strawberry roan,
     Oh, that strawberry roan!
     He says, "This old pony ain't never been rode,
     And the boy that gets on him is sure to get throwed."
     Oh, that strawberry roan!

I gets all excited and I ask what he pays
To ride this old goat for a couple of days.
He offers a ten spot. I says, "I'm your man,
For the bronc never lived that I couldn't fan;
No, the bronc never lived, nor he never drew breath
That I couldn't ride till be starved plumb to death."
He says, "Get your saddle, I'll give you a chance."
We got in the buckboard and rode to the ranch.

     Well, it's oh, that strawberry roan,
     Oh, that strawberry roan!
     We stayed until morning, and right after chuck
     We goes out to see how that outlaw could buck.
     Oh, that strawberry roan!

Well, down in the horse corral standing alone,
Was that old cavayo, old strawberry roan.
His legs were spavined, and he had pigeon toes,
Little pig eyes and a big Roman nose,
Little pin ears that were crimped at the tip,
With a big 44 branded 'cross his left hip;
He's ewe-necked and old, with a long lower jaw,
You can see with one eye he's a reg'lar outlaw.

     Well, it's oh, that strawberry roan,
     Oh, that strawberry roan!
     He's ewe-necked and old, with a long lower jaw,
     You can see with one eye he's a reg'lar outlaw.
     Oh, that strawberry roan!


Well I puts on my spurs and I coils up my twine,
I piled my loop on him, I'm sure feeling fine.
I piled my loop on him, and well I knew then,
If I rode this old pony, I'd sure earn my ten,
I put the blinds on him, it sure was a fight,
Next comes my saddle, I screws her down tight
I gets in his middle and opens the blind,
I'm right in his middle to see him unwind
     Well, it's oh, that strawberry roan,
     Oh, that strawberry roan!
     He lowered his old neck and I think he unwound
     He seemed to quit living down there on the ground
     Oh, that strawberry roan!


He went up towards the east and came down towards the west,
To stay in his middle I'm doin' my best,
He's about the worst bucker I've seen on the range
He can turn on a nickel and give you some change.
He turns his old belly right up to the sun
He sure is one sun-fishin' son of a gun!
I'll tell you, no foolin', this pony can step,
But I'm  still in his middle and buildin' a rep


     Well, it's oh, that strawberry roan,
     Oh, that strawberry roan!
     He goes up on all fours and comes down on his side
     I don't know what keeps him from losin' his hide
     Oh, that strawberry roan!


I loses my stirrup and also my hat,
I starts pulling leather, I'm blind as a bat;
With a big forward jump he goes up on high
Leaves me sittin' on nothin' way up in the sky
I turns over twice, and I comes back to earth
I lights in a-cussin' the day of his birth
I know there is ponies I'm unable to ride
Some are still living, they haven't all died.

     Well, it's oh, that strawberry roan,
     Oh, that strawberry roan!
     I'll bet all my money the man ain't alive
     That can stay with old strawberry when he makes his high
        dive.
     Oh, that strawberry roan!

Note: As the late George Gobel said, this is one of them songs
     about a horse that couldn't be rode and a cowboy that
     couldn't be throwed and one of them gets rode, or throwed,
     or somethin'. RG
Recorded by Cisco Houston
DT #385
Laws B18
RG

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!