Will James lyrics

When I was but a small boy

Father bought me many books

'Bout the creatures of the river banks

And the sins of old sea cooks

But the ones I never left behind

With the those long forgotten games

Were the tales of wild and windy slopes

By the man they call Will James

The living of his cowboy dreams

Or so it seemed to me

The perfect combination

Riding high and livin' free

His heroes were his horses

And he drew them clear and true

And on every page they'd come alive

And they'd jump straight out at you

His race towards the sunset

Was the high and lonesome kind

Like the coyote always looking back

He left no tracks behind

So I've memorized those pictures boys

They're still the very best

If whiskey was his mistress

Then his true love was the west

I remember up on Dead Man's Creek

Back thirty years or more

I hired out to breaking colts

Which I'd never done before

A city kid I asked myself

Now "What would Will James do?"

And you know it was the damnest thing

But it kind of got me through

His race towards the sunset

Was the high and lonesome kind

Like the coyote always looking back

He left no tracks behind

I've memorized those pictures boys

They're still the very best

If whiskey was his mistress

Then his true love was the west

And his race towards the sunset

Was the high and lonesome kind

Like the coyote always looking back

He left no tracks behind

So I've memorized those pictures boys

They're still the very best

If whiskey was his mistress

Then his true love was the west

If whiskey was his mistress

Then his true love was the west

• Artist:Ian Tyson
• Album:Old Corrals and Sagebrush & Other Cowboy Culture Classics (1983)