Aunt Jessie’s Chicken Ranch Lyrics & Chords By Billy Joe Shaver

On the old Rio Grande around midnight, the young boy had fallen asleep
The old yeller dog he found on the trail lay curled in a ball at his feet
The cowpokes was all drunk and wasted in a town right close to the herd
When a hurricane wind come blowin' in, there weren't time to give 'em no word
St. Elmo's fire lit up the herd, turned 'em and turned 'em to one
When they plowed thru the town with the eeriest sound, not a single soul there was spared
Not a soul there was spared

The young boy went whippin' and ridin' into the darkness of night
The cookie's young steed was a hell of a ride and the saddle bags bulged on each side
He rode northeast toward the sunrise that came when the wind died away
The saddle bags held all the cookie had come by, beef jerky, a gun, and his pay
It was the kid's lucky day

Evan McGuire was a gambler, cheater of cards was his trade
A horseless carriage that ran out of gas last night was a part of his wage
The trail was right lonesome that mornin, nary a soul was in sight
When the young boy rode up the gambler took aim, figurin' to take the kid's ride
His bullet went strange like the life he had led, it just wasn't his lucky day
With his life he did pay

The kid rifled thru his belongin's, never had killed him no man
The cookie's pistol was weathered and worn but it brought down a hard one that day
The kid rode away

Aunt Jessie's Chicken Farm waited, on those seekin' comfort and play
The young boy was older and wiser by then, but somethin' just pulled him that way
He'd taken the money, the gun, and the watch, the gambler had need for no more
Then he tipped back his hat and he crawled off his horse and headed for Aunt Jessie's door
This would be his first w***e

Women all gathered around him, marveled how young he must be
The kid picked him one, went for her room, when she gracefully led him away
It was his turn to play

A month's worth of wages he spent there, that's where he figured he'd stay
The woman he'd picked was the best of the lot, older and wiser than he
Try as she may she still fell in love, started to lay back her pay
They would marry some day

One night while dustin' his clothes off, she noticed the watch by her bed
She knew the man who belonged to that watch, somehow she knew he was dead
She was barely fifteen when she met him, and bore him a son on the trail
The baby got left in the fork of a tree and he dragged her off sicker than hell
She escaped him somehow

When she asked the kid 'bout his birthplace, she teared up and started to cry
She held him and hugged him and kissed him, and told him to leave her that night
The kid pulled himself into manhood, saved him a measure of pride
Mother and son bid each other goodbye, she waved as he rode out of sight
She raised the kid