Emmylou Harris - Ballad Of A Runaway Horse lyrics

Say a prayer for the cowgirl
Her horse ran away
She'll walk 'til 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? Was it 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 the 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 it 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