johnny

Johnny Thurmand

Cowboying has changed a lot. A working cowboy's got to be able to run a hydraulic post hole digger and fix a jeep and fly an airplane and do things that no old-time cowboy in his right mind would ever consider doing. A working cowboy gets hired to ride. He's not going to string wire, he's not going to set up fence posts. He's not going to do anything like that because he takes pride in his skill.

There are a lot of people who grow up on ranches who are involved in the cowboying trade, who find that the only way they can make a living at their skills is to go out and hit the rodeo circuit either part-time or full-time. They become stock handlers, get involved with rodeo management, or become riders. That's a really, really hard life. You're riding during the day, then you're hanging out in the bars, chasing women and being chased by women, getting drunk and brawling, and proving your macho day after day. If you don't get busted up by that bull, or you don't get stomped by that saddle bronc, there's a better than even chance something's going to happen to you in the bar after you're through.

We pulled into a gas station just across the Kansas line into Missouri. Fellow about 35 was pumping gas, spilling it all over the ground, shaking like a leaf. I asked him to check my oil. He threw the hood open like he was going to break the hinges, then slammed it shut. I decided I was going to hang around for a while and see if I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I just don't like to drive away from something like that.

Inside there was an electric guitar open in the case and a FOR SALE sign on it. We got to talking and had a cup of coffee. That fellow really wanted to talk to somebody. He'd been a rodeo hand, specialty was Brahmas, which is the toughest. He decided to get married. His bride made him give up rodeo as a condition for her marrying him. So he went to work as a gas jockey. He couldn't handle that for more than about six months, then, without telling his wife, he signed up for the rodeo in Salina, Kansas.

He got a Brahma bull that had quite a reputation for never being ridden. The bull came out very fast, jerked his shoulder out of joint, which meant that he couldn't stick with it, and he fell. Everybody came out and congratulated him and said that, in spite of it all, nobody had ever stayed on that bull for so long. Then he went back to work, his wife got wind of it, and she called him up. Said she'd hired a lawyer and was going to divorce him because he broke his promise.

Now here's a fellow, knew how to do one thing well, and it was a thing he loved. For the sake of a wife and family he was forced to give it up. Then she left him because of that. He kept saying over and over again, "I'm going to sell this electric guitar. See that pick-up truck over there with the camper on it? I own that. I'm going to throw everything I own in there and I'm going to get me a flat-top guitar, and I'm going to play country music in bars, and I'm going to get drunk, and I'm going to follow the damned rodeo for the rest of my life and be a free man, do whatever I want."

I am a cowboy, wild broncos I ride,
But I promised to quit them for the sake of my bride,
Now I work in a station and all I can do
Is think about riding and team roping, too.

I drove to Salina about two weeks ago,
And I signed up to ride in the big rodeo.
Well, I drew a Brahma and it came out fast,
It pulled out my shoulder and I could not last.

He rolled and he sunfished, I kicked and I cussed,
Then I picked myself up and I shook out the dust.
Well, that old "27" he was ornery and strong,
But no one had ever stayed on him so long.

I went down to work, it was early today,
My new bride she called me these few words to say:
You have broken your promise and it's easy to see
You love these wild Brahmas more than you love me.

I'll load up my pickup, take a flat top guitar,
Sing country music in every damn bar;
I'll load up my pickup, get ready to go,
Head out to follow the big rodeo.

Oh, where did you come from, where will you go?
Where did you come from, my young Johnny-O?
I come here to ride and I come here to sing,
I didn't come to bring you no goddamn ring.

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