Along about eighteen twenty-five I left Tennessee very much alive And I never would have gotten through the Arkansas mud If I hadn't been a-ridin that Tennessee stud
I had some trouble with my sweetheart's pa And one of her brothers was a bad outlaw I sent her a letter by my Uncle Fud And I rode away on the Tennessee stud
CHORUS: The Tennessee stud was long and lean The color of the sun and his eyes were green A-He had the nerve and he had the blood And there never was a hoss like the Tennessee stud
We drifted on down into no man's land We crossed that river called the Rio Grande I raced my hoss with the Spaniard's foal Till I got me a skin full of silver and gold
Me and the gambler we couldn't agree We got in a fight over Tennessee We jerked our guns, and he fell with a thud And I got away on the Tennessee stud
The Tennessee stud was long and lean The color of the sun and his eyes were green A-He had the nerve and he had the blood And there never was a hoss like the Tennessee stud
Well I got just as lonesome as a man can be A-Dreaming of my girl in Tennessee The Tennessee stud's green eyes turned blue Cause he was a-dreamin' of his sweetheart, too
We loped right back across Arkansas I whoop her brother and I whoop her pa When I found that girl with the golden hair And she was A-ridin' that Tennessee mare (whoa, boy)
The Tennessee stud was long and lean The color of the sun and his eyes were green He had the nerve and he had the blood And there never was a hoss like the Tennessee stud
Stirrup to stirrup and side by side We crossed them mountains and the valleys wide We came into Big Muddy then we forded a flood On the Tennessee mare and the Tennessee stud
There's a pretty little baby on the cabin floor A little hoss colt playin' 'round the door I love the girl with golden hair And the Tennessee stud loves the Tennessee mare (They'se good hosses)
The Tennessee stud was long and lean The color of the sun and his eyes were green And he had the nerve and he had the blood And there never was a hoss like the Tennessee stud