Verse 1:
    Em                       D
Now he don't expect her to stay true to him
    Em                       D
and she never says that she will
     Em                     D
but he's got a first love that just might kill him
     Em                             D
and she knows he's hooked on the thrill
      G                          D
So she'll wait and worry then she'll wait some more
          G                        D
for the fever that drives him to just run its course
      Bm                         D                       G
she talks to that picture they took their last night together

Chorus:
           D          A        G             D          A       Em
Says you can't be a cowboy forever, no you can't be a cowboy forever.

Verse 2:
    Em                       D                            Em     
Sometimes he calls her he swears that the ground hurts, more than it did 
    D
yesterday.
     Em                           D                         Em    
But she knows his voice, and he still sounds determined, to do whatever it 
  D
takes.
     G                           D                             G
So she'll wait and worry then she'll wait some more, for the fever that 
                D
drives him to just run its course
       Bm                          D                       G
the whiskey he drinks said some things last spring that upset her.

Chorus:
         D           A       G             D           A      Em
But he can't be a cowboy forever, no you can't be a cowboy forever.

Instrumental:

Verse 3:
      Em                             D
Then one night he shows up, and he says what's for dinner
      Em                      D
with that cocky grin on his face.
     Em                          D
the way that she smiled and the way that she held him
  Em                     D
told him he wasn't too late.
    Bm                       D                            G
As she closed her eyes, and he slipped that ring on her finger.

Chorus:
           D           A      G
Said you can't be a cowboy forever,
         D           A      G
No you can't be a cowboy forever,
         D           A      Em
No you can't be a cowboy forever.