Roanie

By Tom Russell 6/18/2011 C Em Mail Pouch Tobacco signs are crumblin' in waltz time Dm G On the sides of forgotten old barns Dm G Dm G And the rockin' chair's a-rollin' on the porch down at Dolan's G C Where Roanie tells those wild western yarns C Em About a big roan caballo that ruled the arroyos F Fm Then he's hummin' 'The Strawberry Roan' C G And the boys start to sighin' 'cause old Roanie he's cryin' G C He's forgotten the words to the song Chorus: F Em Roanie, you're nothin' but a drugstore vaquero F G C You've been tellin' your lies too damn long F Em A-hummin' the tune to 'The Strawberry Roan' D7 G Forgettin' the words to the song Dm G C Hey, Roanie, your old wild west is gone Now the Great Western Feed Lot's turned into a truck stop Where old Roanie drinks coffee all night And he tells all the drivers he's an outlaw survivor And he beat Jesse James in a fight And the waitresses smile, Lord, they're lost for a while Makin' love in some gunfighters bed And the wild west keeps dyin' and old Roanie keeps on lyin' About the home on the range in his head Bridge: F Em He'd cough and he'd wink, he'd say, Lord I need a drink F G C And I gotta get these dogies movin' on F Em I'm pony ridin' mail down the wild Chisolm Trail D7 G Gotta make Laredo by dawn Dm G Hey, does anyone remember the words to that old song C Am G As I rode out in the streets of Laredo C F Am G As I rode out in Laredo one day Well, the Mail Pouch Tobacco signs are crumblin' in waltz time On the sides of forgotten old barns And the rockin' chair's been stolen off the porch down at Dolan's Where old Roanie told those wild western yarns And that big roan caballo has left the arroyos He's swayback and plumb broken down And old Roanie, he's buried in the new cemetery Yeah, there ain't no more Boot Hills around Chorus 2: Roanie was nothin' but a drugstore vaquero Who'd been tellin' his lies too damn long A-hummin' the tune to 'The Strawberry Roan' Forgettin' the words to the song And now Roanie and the West are both gone C G C G So it's beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly Am F Am G He had a pain in his chest and he's bound to move on C G C Singin', Oh that strawberry roan F C F C mmmmm, Mmmmmmmm F C Turn on a nickel and give you some change G C Who could ride that strawberry roan