(D)                      (G)
One night while I was out a ridin' 
    (D)                             (A)
The grave yard shift, midnight 'til dawn 
    (G)      (A)          (D)     (Bm)
The moon was bright as a readin' light 
       (A)           (G)             (D)
For a letter from an old friend back home 
 
And he asked me 
(G)        (A)           (D)
Why do you ride for your money 
       (G)         (A)            (D)
Tell me why do you rope for short pay 
            (G)        (A)
You ain't a'gettin' nowhere 
           (D)         (Bm)  (A)  (G)
And you're losin' your share 
         (A)            (G)       (D)
Boy, you must have gone crazy out there 
        (D)                    (G)
He said last night I ran into Jenny 
      (D)                   (A)
She's married and has a good life 
            (G)             (A) 
And boy you sure missed the track 
         (D)        (Bm)
When you never come back 
          (A)       (G)          (D)
She's the perfect professional's wife 

And she asked me 
(G)         (A)          (D)
Why does he ride for his money 
    (G)                 (A)            (D)
And tell me why does he rope for short pay 
           (G)      (A)
He ain't a'gettin' nowhere 
         (D)        (Bm)  (A)  (G)
And he's losin' his share 
       (A)          (G)       (D)
Boy he must've gone crazy out there 
               (G)   (A)      (D)      (Bm)
Ah but they've never seen the Northern Lights 
        (G)          (A)         (D)
They've never seen a hawk on the wing 
        (G)          (A)          (D)   (Bm)  (A)  (G)
They've never spent spring on the Great Divide 
            (A)              (G)         (D)    (E)
And they've never heard ole' camp cookie sing 
(E)                            (A)
Well I read up the last of my letter 
      (E)                          (B)
And I tore off the stamp for black Jim 
         (A)        (B)           (E)  (C#m)
And when Billy rode up to relieve me 
        (B)          (A)        (E)
He just looked at my letter and grinned 

He said now 
(A)         (B)            (E)
Why do they ride for their money 
       (A)          (B)            (E)
Tell me why do they ride for short pay 
            (A)        (B)
They ain't a'gettin' nowhere 
            (E)          (C#m)  (B)  (A)
And they're losin' their share 
          (B)          (A)       (E)
Boy, they must've gone crazy out there 
          (A)         (B)       (E)
Son, they all must be crazy out there