This Cowboy's Hat

(album: Western Underground - 1991)

[Spoken:]
Well there's always been groups of people that could never see eye to eye... an' I always thought if they'd get the chance to sit down and talk face to face they might realize they got a lot in common.....

Well I was sitting in a coffee shop, just having a cup to pass the time.
Swapping rodeo stories with this ole cowboy friend of mine.
When some motor-cycle riders started snickering in the back
started poking fun at my friend's hat.
One ole boy said "hey Tex, where'd you park your horse?"
My friend just pulled his hat down low, but they couldn't be ignored.
One husky fella said, "I think I'll rip that hat right off your head."
That's when my friend turned around, and this is what he said:

You'll ride a black tornado, 'cross the western sky
Rope an ole blue northern and milk it till it's dry
Bull dawg the Mississippi, pin its ears down flat
Long before you take this cowboy's hat.

Now pardner, this ole hat is better left alone,
She used to be my daddy's, but last year he passed on.
My nephew skinned the Rattler that makes up this ole hatband,
But back in '69 he died in Vietnam.
Now the eagle feather was given to me by an indian friend of mine
But someone ran him down somewhere around that Arizona line
And a real special lady gave me this hat pin
But I don't know if I'll ever see her again.

You'll ride a black tornado, 'cross the western sky
Rope an ole blue northern and milk it till it's dry
Bull dawg the Mississippi, pin its ears down flat
Long before you take this cowboy's hat.

Now if your leather jacket means to you what this hat means to me
Then I guess we understand each other, and we'll just let it be.
But if you still think it's funny, man, you got my back up against the wall.
And if you touch my hat, you're gonna have to fight us all...
Well, right then I caught a little sadness in that gang leader's eyes,
And he turned back t'wards the others and they all just sorta shuffled on outside
But when my friend turned back t'wards me, I noticed his old hat brim
Well it was turned up, in a big ole texas grin

[CHORUS]