Along about 1825 I left Tennessee very much alive
I never would've got through the Arkansas mud
If I hadn't been riding on the Tennessee Stud
I had a little trouble with my sweetheart's pa
One of her brothers was a bad outlaw
I sent her a letter by my uncle Bud
And I rode away on the Tennessee Stud
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 horse like the Tennessee Stud
We drifted on down into no man's land
We crossed the river called the Rio Grande
I raced my horse with a Spaniard's foal
'Til I got me a skin full of silver and gold
Me and a gambler we couldn't agree
We got in a fight over Tennessee
We jerked our guns, he fell with a thud
And I got away on the Tennessee Stud
Well, I got just as lonesome as a man could be
Dreaming of my girl in Tennessee
The Tennessee Stud's green eyes turned blue
'Cause he was dreaming of his sweetheart too
We loped right on back across Arkansas
I whupped her brother and I whupped her pa
When I found that girl with the golden hair
And she was riding on the Tennessee Mare
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 horse like the Tennessee Stud
Stirrup to stirrup and side by side
We crossed the mountains and the valleys wide
We came to Big Muddy, and we forded the flood
On the Tennessee Mare and the Tennessee Stud
Pretty little baby on the cabin floor
A little horse colt playing round the door
I love the girl with the golden hair
And the Tennessee Stud loves the Tennessee Mare
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 horse like the Tennessee Stud