Old Bill Pickett

Old Bill Pickett's gone away, over the Great Divide

To the place where all the preachers say both saint and sinner abide

And if they check his brand, like I think they will, it's a running horse they'll give to Bill

Herd of steers till he gets his fill, and a great big crowd to watch him ride

Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone

He left me here to sing this song

Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone

Left me here to sing this song

Old Bill Pickett was a mighty Black man, and he rode for the 101

Way down in Comanche land, where they say the West was won

He'd jump a steer from a running hoss, throw it down with a mighty toss

Worked for many but he had no boss, the last of the great cowhands

Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone

He left me here to sing this song

Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone

Left me here to sing this song

Now way down south in Mexico, he took a great big dare

To try to toss a fighting bull, just to see how he might fare

He grabbed old Toro by the horns, put the bull's nose in his jaws

That crowd never seen such a thing before, for an hour and a half they cheered

Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone

He left me here to sing this song

Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone

Left me here to sing this song

With the great Will Rogers and wild Tom Mix, he rode in the rodeo

And all that paid their fifty cents would get a great big show

Yeah, all that had two bits could see Bill wrestle steers with his teeth

We'll never see such a mighty feat 'cause he left us long ago

Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone

He left me here to sing this song

Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone

Left me here to sing this song

It was way down on the Miller ranch in the year of '32

Bill Pickett roped a sorrel stud, just to see what he could do

And that sorrel stud, he pitched and bucked and stomped Bill's body in the dust

At seventy-three, he was out of luck, he took eleven days to die

There was nothing they could do

They laid Bill down in a six-by-three, beneath the land he knew

At the head they placed a cross, said "Of his kind we've seen few"

Then 'round the fire they drank some wine, and old Zack Miller wrote these lines

Left 'em there for me to find, to put to music and sing to you

How old Bill Pickett's a long time gone

He left us here to sing this song

Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone

Left us here to sing this song