ScubaDog's MTB Cattle Drive

All references to songs and lryics, exclusive copyrights of The Marshall Tucker Band.

Have dreams about the West?
Then, start to roam!!

Version 1.1 Updated links version Now Playing!

Take the trail west and test your fortunes with the Tucker Boys. Choose one of two responses for each question. When you're ready, mount your ride, and hit the trail!

Join the Cattle Drive!

Or

Go back to Carolina

(Choose one)

Good Choice! There's gold in the hills, and it's waitin' for you there! But, be careful now. Legend says that you'll never come back, no you'll never come back the same!

Before you leave, you'll need to put your affairs in order. After paying your debts, you say goodbye to your woman. You tell her "you'll be back some day,"

But darlin' please don't wait for me too long."

Or

See you later, I'm gone."

Another good choice! You know you're comin' back but you don't want to leave her hangin' forever. After takin' on supplies, next you meet the foreman on the drive. "He says, son you're gonna ride"

"Shotgun."

Or

"At the end of my herd."

That's right, you're at the end to start things off, but what did you expect? You're still a greenhorn and you've got to prove yourself. As you wait for the word to head-on out, "all the wranglers sat around in a circle, and

"Nobody said a word."

Or

"They sang songs that they learned as a child."

Okay, you're doin' fine. Just keep your ears open and listen to the other cowpokes. You've got plenty of time to show off your stuff, just take it easy. How long do you figure you'll be "on the dust covered trail?"

"For 13 hours everyday"

Or

"Six long months"

Yep! That's a long time to be gone, foolish' dreamin' about the west. You know by now that it takes about a week for the word to get around on this cattle drive. It's a lonesome road, and a hard way to live. Okay. There's a rumour goin' round that

"We're near a Kansas City town."

Or

"The foreman shot a man in Denver."

Well, you can't always trust everything you hear! On a long hard ride, you've got to keep your mind wanderin'

As you ride the trail you "listen to the wind blow,"

"Twenty-four hours at a time."

Or

"Sand over my trail."

Have we separated the trail hands from the deadwood yet? The way you're goin' you'll be writin' the lesson plans for Miss Virgina's trivia.

As we approach a fork in the trail, there's stangers ahead. Some of the boys begin talkin' with the tall one who rode a:

"Chestnut stallion"

Or

"White mustang"

They want to trade some goods, and join our wagon train. You think it might be a setup, an outlaw, a man who never understands the word called danger. Your simple advise is:

"Fly like an eagle!"

Or

"Never trust a stranger."

That's right. When you leave yourself wide open you'll be shot down where you stand!

You've been fortunate on the trail, but it's gettin' lonesome. Lookin' back on why you left Carolina, you reassure yourself. You "took the trip to Montana,"

"Guess we were lookin' for gold."

Or

"Cause I paid my time, and a new life is gonna be mine!"

No, we're not talkin' bout an outlaw from the Denver jail. You had dreams about the west and started to roam! Remember, you're lookin' for gold 'cause it was "everywhere," you were told.

As you break for the evening you've got your "saddle on the ground and that ol' moon can still be found,

"Unto these hills."

Or

"Hidin' in the desert skies."

Okay, time for some fun. What's the evening treat?

"Singin' western tunes 'round the campfire."

Or

"Dance hall girls."

That's right, bring on the women- there'll be plenty of time for the music later. As you look around the hall, in the "corner of the dark, bar room sits an old"

"Cowboy singin' western tunes."

Or

"Beagle dog, grown a little too old."

The beagle dog's still in Carolina, with the rusty shot gun. Anyway,the cowboy says he was a star a long time ago, back in '31. As you look him over you notice the Stetson hat that he wore was the finest made:

"Since the war."

Or

"In Kansas City town."

You both decide to sit down at the poker table. What's your game?

"Jack's or Better"

Or

"Five-Card Stud"

After a couple of hands and few good laughs, your "glass is empty. The bartender says,"

"Leave."

Or

"Have another!"

Well, we know for every fool there's a good bar stool and the same old sad, sad song. So you go on back to camp, homesick now. You long to see that Carolina sunset, more than ever. "It make's heaven,"

"Just a dream away."

Or

"A little bit closer to earth."

Back on the trail, you feel the chill settin' in. It's a cold winter morning and "you could look up in the air, and you could see

"A gray squirrel climbing in a oak tree."

Or

"The wild geese flying."

Alright! Both from the same song! Time to stop for some firewood to cut the chill, you get weak at both knees. What do you do?

When you're out choppin' wood you,

"Can't move your legs, you can't see."

Or

"Leave the ax in the tree."

Almost at the end of our road now. You been diggin' and siftin' from five 'til five, sellin' everything just to stay alive. You took one look at that torn ol' picture of Virgina, and knew she wasn't meant to live that way. What's your decision now?

"When you're feeling down and low, and you don't know which way your life should go, it takes time; it takes time; it takes time.

Or

"I'm sure in your mind that you vision this paradise, a place we could live for ever more.

"So let's search wide and far, for that mountain or that shooting star, a sign that might show us the way."

Thanks for riding the Cattle Drive.

Would you like to comment or suggest more lyrics? Email your comments or suggestions to scubadog.geo@yahoo.com

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