Saddle Tramp Philosopher chords by Waddie Mitchell
Verse 1
F
Am
F
We
were
branding Zaga's cattle
at Frost Canyon in the spring
Am
F
when neighboring with each other
was still such a normal thing
G
F
that a fellow never realized
Gm
that the use of this practical tool
G
in twenty years would be an exception
Dm
F
and not the common rule.
G
Am
The wives were all at the cabin visiting
F
Gm
an d cooking a feast
that'd be served up on long
F
tables with benches
when the sun had moved from the east.
G
F
Everyone else was down at the trap
G
Gm
F
in the dust and the wind and the sun,
G
in unwashed Levi's
Gm
G
and sweat -stained hats,
F
G
teaching me work can be fun.
F
Eb
From the west, a rider came,
G
leading a packhorse
towards camp.
F
Dad put his hand on my shoulder
G
F
Eb
and said, son, there's a last saddle tramp.
G
Well, to the mind of this 13 -year -old,
F
Eb
that was romantic as hell.
G
Am
He rode up to the herd
G
to visit with Fred,
and I learned his
Em
name was Thomas O'Dell.
G
He asked Fred permission
F
to camp a few days,
G
rest his horses,
mend a sawbuck.
F
Am
He's told he's welcome.
F
There's grain in the barn,
and well,
G
we'd soon all be sent to Chuck.
Well, we had finished the branding
F
and had washed at the creek
and was hunting some shade
and a drink
G
when Tom yelled out loud, Fred,
your outhouse is locked.
And then just stood there
F
and squinted and blinked.
Well, Fred pulled out a key,
threw it to Tom.
G
F
He said, you know, vandals,
insurance and such.
They broke all the dishes.
They've shot out her phone.
G
F
G
We just can't be here that much."
F
But Tom wasn't about to let this thing drop.
G
He kept standing there
F
blinking his eyes.
I recognize now,
that's the cue that he gives,
G
F
just be fore he philosophizes.
G
He said, Fred, my granddaddy,
Lord rest his soul,
G
Am
took a homestead in what's
now Arkansas.
G
And the first thing he done
was to dig a deep hole
and take some lumber
F
he'd cut from the raw
G
and built him a three -holer privy,
one that'd stand through the good
F
times and bad.
And for thirty years, Fred,
Gm
G
he never locked the door once.
G
Then he turned the place
F
over to Dad.
G
Then through the Depression,
Dad raised us kids.
G
There's times we
F
G
didn't have a dime. time.
F
But unlocked it stood there,
G
through famine and flood,
F
G
even through Green Apple time.
F
Now my brother runs that outfitting house
for thirty years,
and that outhouse is still used regular,
F
G
F
unlocked, I have little fear.
G
About now, Fred says, Tom,
don't you see it's really not that big a deal,
it's just that these van
F
dals from town'll
tear up anything that ain't handy to steal.
G
But Tom just kept squintin' and blankin'
G
and scratchin' his head neath his hat.
We were all on our toes to hear what he'd say next,
F
and he's relishin' that.
F
And he looked at the ground
he'd been towin',
said, Fred, I'd bet my good
F
horseshoe and anvil
that in the seventy -five years
that that outhouse has stood there,
no one ever stole as much as one handful.
Saddle Tramp Philosopher
Waddie Mitchell
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