Ol' Bill

How can I ever thank you

You were this cowboy's only friend

Twas a cold chill blowin'

That woke us on the eve of '82

That desert snow skipped across the rangeland

And killed the sparks keeping our blood blue

Ol' Bill sat there beneath the moonlight

The finest herding dog I'd ever known

Never gripped a calf nor stole my provisions

Just ran the herd and put time on his bone

On this rocky hill I'll lay you

So you can always drive 'em in

How can I ever thank you

You were this cowboy's only friend

Howling winds cut through like a buck knife

But Ol' Bill he just sits there still as stone

We push on down the rocky canyon wall

To the fertile grassy feeding grounds below

So I hitch my paint and take rest on a sagebrush

And toss a rib to Ol' Bill for his job

When through the brush I saw lunge before me

The biggest mountain cat I'd ever saw

Well the mountain cat dragged me across the bedrock

And from my saddle my old gun did fell

Well that mountain cat sent the herd a running

All except that herding dog named Bill

For he bit that cat and cut me short of dying

But Ol' Bill fought and drew a different end

That mountain cat vanished up the canyon

Leaving me to bury my best friend

On this rocky hill I'll lay you

So you can always drive 'em in

How can I ever thank you

You were this cowboy's only friend