Written and recorded by Tom Russell
F C
Pancho Villa crossed the border, in the year of ought-sixteen
G
The people of Columbus, still hear him riding through their dreams
Am F
He killed seventeen civilians, you could hear the women scream
C G
Black Jack Pershing on a dancing horse, was waiting in the wings
Am Em
Tonight we ride, Tonight we ride
F C G
We'll skin old Pancho Villa, and make chaps out of his hide
Am F
Shoot his horse, Siete Leguas, and his twenty-seven brides
C F C
Tonight we ride, Tonight we ride
We rode for three long years, 'till Black Jack Pershing called it quitsn Jack wasn't
I stole his fine spade bit
It was tied upon his stallion, so I rode away on it
To the wild Chihauhan desert, so dry you couldn't spit
Tonight we ride, you bastards dare
We'll kill the wild Apache, for the bounty on his hair
Then we'll ride into Durango, climb up the whorehouse stairs
Tonight we ride, Tonight we ride
When I'm too damned old to sit a horse, I'll steal the Warden's car
Break my ass out of this prison, leave my teeth there in a jar
You don't need no teeth for kissin' galls, or smokin' cheap cigars
I'll sleep with one eye open, 'neath God's celestial stars
Tonight we rock, Tonight we roll
We'll rob the Juarez liquor store, for the Rey Posada gold
And if we drink ourselves to death, ain't that the cowboy way to go?
Tonight we ride, Tonight we ride
Tonight we fly, we're heading west
Toward the mountains and the ocean, where the eagle makes it's nest
And if our bones bleach on the desert, we'll consider we are blessed
Tonight we ride, Tonight we ride.
