(From the Rio Grande)
From the film “Rhythm On The Range”, 1936
Words and music by Johnny Mercer
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
Step aside you ornery Tenderfeet
Let a big bad buckeroo past
I’m the toughest hombre you’ll ever meet
Tho’ I may be the last
Yer-sir-ree, we’re a vanishing race
No-sir-ree, can’t last long
Step aside you ornery Tenderfeet
While I sing my song
1. I’m an old cowhand from the Rio Grande
But my legs ain’t bowed and my cheeks ain’t tanned
I’m a cowboy who never saw a cow
Never roped a steer cause I don’t know how
Sure ain’t a fixin’ to start in now
Oh, yippee yi yo ki yay
Yippee yi yo ki yay
2. I’m an old cowhand and I come down from the Rio Grande
And I learned to ride, ride, ride ‘fore I learned to stand
I’m a ridin’ fool who is up to date
I know every trail in the Lone Star State
Cause I ride the range in a Ford V8
Oh, yippee yi yo ki yay
Yippee yi yo ki yay
3. We’re old cowhands from the Rio Grande
And we come to town just to hear the band
We know all the songs that the cowboys know
‘Bout the Big Corral where the doggies go
We learned them all on the radio
Oh, yippee yi yo ki yay
Yippee yi yo ki yay
4. I’m an old cowhand, down from the Rio Grande
Oh, where the West is wild all around the Borderland
Where the buffalo roam around the zoo
And the engines run up a rug or two
And the old Bar X is just a barbecue, yeah
Oh, yippee yi yo ki yay
Yippee yi yo ki yay
Sung by Laurence Rubenstein: