Chestnut Mare

Always alone never with a herd
Prettiest mare I’ve ever seen
You’ll have to take my word

I’m going to catch that horse if I can
And when I do I’ll give her my brand

Well I was up on stony ridge after this chestnut mare
I’d been chasin’ her for weeks
Oh, I’d catch a glimpse of her every once in a while
Takin’ her meal, or bathin'
A fine lady

This one day I happened to be real close to her
And I saw her standin’ over there
So I snuck up on her nice and easy
Got my rope out
And I flung it in the air

I’m going to catch that horse if I can
And when I do I’ll give her my brand
And we’ll be friends for life
She’ll be just like a wife
I’m going to catch that horse if I can

Well I got her, and I’m pullin’ on her, and she’s pullin’ back
Like this mule goin’ up a ladder
And I take a choice and I jump up on her
Damned if I don’t land right on top of her
And she takes off, runnin’ up on to the ridge
Higher than I’ve ever been before
She’s runnin’ along just fine, 'til she stops
And something spooked her
It’s a sidewinder, all coiled and ready to strike
She doesn’t know what to do for a second
But then she jumps off the edge
Me holding on

Above the hills
Higher than eagles were gliding
Suspended in the sky

Over the moon
Straight for the sun we were riding
My eyes were filled with light

Behind us black walls
Below us a bottomless canyon
Floating with no sound

Gulls far below
Seemed to be suddenly rising
Exploding all around

I’m going to catch that horse if I can
And when I do I’ll give her my brand
And we’ll be friends for life
She’ll be just like a wife
I’m going to catch that horse if I can

And we were falling down this crevice
About a mile down I’d say
I look down and I see this red thing below us
Comin’ up real fast
And it’s our reflection in a little pool of water
About six feet wide, and one foot deep
And we're crawling down right through it
We hit and we splashed it dry
That’s when I lost my hold and she got away
But I’m going to try to get her again some day

I’m going to catch that horse if I can
And when I do I’ll give her my brand
And we’ll be friends for life
She’ll be just like a wife
I’m going to catch that horse
I’m going to catch that horse
I’m going to catch that horse if I can
I’m going to catch that horse if I can