Ballad of a Runaway Horse lyrics

Say a prayer for the cowgirl, her horse ran away

She'll walk until she finds him, her darling, her stray

But the river's in flood and the roads are awash

And the bridges break up in the panic of loss

And there's nothing to follow, nowhere to go

He's gone like the summer, gone like the snow

And the crickets are breaking her heart with their song

As the day caves in and the night is all wrong

Did she dream it was he who went galloping past

And bent down the fern broke open the grass

And printed the mud with the well-hammered shoe

That she nailed to his speed in the dreams of her youth

And although he goes grazing a minute away

She tracks him all night she tracks him all day

And she's blind to his presence except to compare

Her injury here with his punishment there

Then at home on a branch on a high stream

A songbird sings out so suddenly

And the sun is warm and the soft winds ride

On a willow tree by the riverside

Ah the world is sweet and world is wide

And he's there where the light and the darkness divide

And the steam's coming off him he's huge and he's shy

And he steps on the moon when he paws at the sky

And he comes to her hand but he's not really tame

He longs to be lost she longs for the same

And he'll bolt and he'll plunge through the first open pass

To roll and to feed in the sweet mountain grass

Or he'll make a break for the high plateau

Where there's nothing above and nothing below

It's time for their burden the whip and the spur

Will she ride with him or will he ride with her

So she binds herself to her galloping steed

And he binds himself to the woman in need

And there is no space just left and right

And there is no time but there is day and night

Then she leans on his neck and whispers low

Whither thou goest I will go

And they turn as one, and they head for the plain

No need for the whip, oh no need for the rein

Now the clasp of this union who fastens it tight

Who snaps it asunder the very next night

Some say it's him, some say it's her

Some say love's like smoke, beyond all repair

So my darling, my darling just let go by

That old silhouette on the great western sky

And I'll pick out a tune and they'll move right along

And they're gone like smoke, and they're gone like this song

Say a prayer for the cowgirl

• Artist:Emmylou Harris
• Album:Cowgirl's Prayer (1993)