Strawberry Roan Songtext
von Pete Seeger

I was lopin" around town just a-spendin′ my time,
Out of a job, and not making a dime,
When a stranger steps up and he says, "I suppose
You're a bronc rider by the looks of your clothes."

"You guesses me right, I"m a good one," I claim,
"You happen to have any bad ones to tame?"
Says he, "I′ve got one and a bad one to buck;
At throwin' good riders he's had lots of luck."
I gets all excited and ask s what he pays
To ride that old pony for a couple of days.
He offers a slow buck. Says I, "I′m your man,
For the bronc never lived that I couldn′t fan."

Well, it's oh, that strawberry roan,
Oh, that strawberry roan!
He"s the worst buckin" bronco that ever was hold
He"s never been rode, and he"s twenty years old,
That renegade strawberry roan.


"No, the bronc never lived, he never drew breath
That I couldn′t ride till he starved plumb to death."
Says he, "Get your saddle, I'll give you a chance."
So I got in the buckboard and rode to his ranch.
I stayed until morning, and right after chuck,
I went out to see if that bronco could buck.
Well down in the horse corrals standing alone,
Was this little cavayo, a strawberry roan.
His legs is all spotty and he has pigeon toes
Little pig eyes and a big roman nose,
Little pin ears that touch at the tip
And a double square iron stamped on his hip.

Well, it′s oh, that strawberry roan,
Oh, that strawberry roan!
He"s the worst buckin" bronco that ever was hold
He"s never been rode, and he"s twenty years old,
That renegade strawberry roan.

Ewe-necked and old and a long lower jaw,
I can see with a one eye, he was a regular outlaw.
Well I put on my spurs, I was sure feelin" fine,
Pulled down my hat and I picked up my twine.
I throwed that loop on him, and well I knew then
E"err he got rode, I"d sure earn the ten.
I got the blinds on, it sure was a fight;
Next comes my saddle and I screws it down tight.

Then I crawls on him and raises the blind,
I was riding his middle to watch him unwind.
Well, he went right to work, and I guess he unwound;
He quit spending much of his time on the ground


Well, it's oh, that strawberry roan,
Oh, that strawberry roan!
He"s the worst buckin" bronco that ever was hold
He"s never been rode, and he"s twenty years old,
That renegade strawberry roan.

He went up toward the east, he come down toward the west,
To stay in his middle, I"m doing my best.
He sure was frogwalkin" and weaving behind;
My head went a-snapping and then I went blind
But I"ll tell you, no fooling, this bronco could step,
But I was still in his middle, and building a rep.
With a phenomenal jump he goes up on high,
And I"m sitting on nothing way up in the sky.
And then I turned over and came back to earth,
Sat there a-cussin" the day of this birth,
And I knows that the ponies I ain"t able to ride,
Some of them living--they haven"t all died.
But I"ll bet all my money that there"s no man alive,
Can stay with that bronc when he makes his high dive.

Well, it′s oh, that strawberry roan,
Oh, that strawberry roan!
He"s the worst buckin" bronco that ever was hold
He"s never been rode, and he"s twenty years old,
That renegade strawberry roan.