Ride a Wide Circle
He owns a few cows, but he is no cattle baron.
He harvests two crops of hay and a third if he can, but he is no farmer.
He’s a wrench twister, but not a mechanic,
and he can pound a nail, but he is no carpenter.
He’s a cowman...an up-at-dawn-get-the-job-done man
and today he’s gonna make a circle,
but the circle he’ll ride is so much more than just the ground he’ll cover.
You see, he’s part of a wider circle.
A circle comprised of all the brave souls who choose to make their livin’ off the land.
It’s the kind of stillness felt only before dawn,
and he knows just the mare he’ll throw his saddle on.
He shakes the bridle and she huffs a hello.
He likes her easy gait when there’s many a mile to go.
High Summer mornin’, slow trot to the ridge.
He feels her power beneath him, but the balance is all his.
And he’ll ride a wide circle checkin’ stock and makin’ plans.
‘Cause he’s got dreams tied hard and fast and they hold him to this land.
Yes, he’ll ride a wide circle and today he’ll ride alone
in a saddle that’s no rich man’s trophy, it’s a workin’ man’s throne.
He doctors cattle, but he is no physician.
He hums a James Taylor tune, but he is no musician.
He rides the fenceline his daddy’s daddy rode before.
The same big sapphire ceiling, the same sweet grass floor.
Cowboy life will take from him a little blood and sweat each day.But for a third generation American dream, that’s a paltry price to pay.
So, he’ll ride that wide circle checkin’ stock and makin’ plans.
Cause he’s got dreams tied hard and fast and they hold him to this land.
Yes, he’ll ride that wide circle ‘cause he knows he’s not alone.
This range his grand-dads dream, his daddy’s, now his own.
May the circle be unbroken, by and by, Lord, by and by.
There’s a better home awaiting in the sky, Lord, in the sky.