Tennessee Stud Lyrics - Arlo Guthrie

by Jimmy Driftwood 

Along about eighteen and twenty-five 

I left Tennessee very much alive 

I never would have got through the Arkansas mud 

If I hadn't been a-ridin on the Tennessee stud 

I had some trouble with my sweetheart's pa 

One of her brothers was a bad outlaw 

I sent her a letter by my Uncle Fud 

And I rode away on the Tennessee stud 

CHORUS: 

The Tennessee stud was long and lean 

The color of the sun and his eyes were green 

He had the nerve and he had the blood 

And there never was a hoss like the Tennessee stud 

One day I was ridin' in the beautiful land 

And ran smack into an Indian band 

They jerked their knives with a whoop and a yell 

But I rode away like a bat out of hell 

Well I circled their camp for a time or two 

And showed what a Tennessee hoss could do 

And them redskin boys never got my blood 

'Cause I was a-ridin' on the Tennessee stud 

CHORUS 

We drifted on down into no man's land 

We crossed the river called the Rio Grande 

I raced my hoss with the Spaniards bold 

Till I got me a skin full of silver and gold 

Me and a gambler we couldn't agree 

We got in a fight over Tennessee 

We jerked our guns, he fell with a thud 

And I got away on the Tennessee stud 

CHORUS 

Well, I got as lonesome as a man can be 

Dreamin' of my girl in Tennessee 

The Tennessee stud's green eyes turned blue 

'Cause he was a-dneamin' of a sweetheart too 

We loped on back across Arkansas 

I whipped her brother and I whipped her pa 

I found that girl with the golden hair 

And she was ridin' on a Tennessee mare 

CHORUS 

Stirrup to stirrup and side by side 

We crossed the mountains and the valleys wide 

We came to Big Muddy and we forded the flood 

On the Tennessee mare and the Tennessee stud 

Pretty little baby on the cabin floor 

Little hoss colt playin' 'round the door 

I love the girl with golden hair 

And the Tennessee stud loves the Tennessee mare 

CHORUS