RAGTIME COWBOY JOE

Out in Arizona where the bad men are,
And the only friend to guide you is an evening star,
Out in Arizona where the bad men are,
And the only friend to guide you is an evening star,
The roughest toughest man by far,
Is Ragtime Cowboy Joe.

Got his name from singing to the cows and sheep;
Every night they say he sings the herd to sleep
In a basso rich and deep,
Crooning soft and low.

He always sings raggy music to the cattle,
As he swings back and forward in the saddle,
On a horse that is syncopated gaited,
And there's such a funny meter to the roar of his repeater.
How they run when they hear that fellow's gun,
Because the Western folks all know,
He's a high-falutin' scootin', shootin' son-of-a-gun from Arizona,
Ragtime Cowboy Joe.

He always sings raggy music to the cattle,
As he swings back and forward in the saddle,
On a horse that is syncopated gaited,
And there's such a funny meter to the roar of his repeater.
How they run when they hear that fellow's gun,
Because the Western folks all know,
He's a high-falutin' scootin', shootin' son-of-a-gun from Arizona,
Ragtime Cowboy Joe.

Dressed up every Sunday in his Sunday clothes,
He beats it for the village where he always goes,
Dressed up every Sunday in his Sunday clothes,
He beats it for the village where he always goes,
And every girl in town is Joe's,
'Cause he's a ragtime bear.

When he starts a spieling on the dance hall floor,
No one but a lunatic would start a war,
Wise men know his forty-four,
Makes men dance for fair.

He always sings raggy music to the cattle,
As he swings back and forward in the saddle,
On a horse that is syncopated gaited,
And there's such a funny meter to the roar of his repeater.
How they run when they hear that fellow's gun,
Because the Western folks all know,
He's a high-falutin' scootin', shootin' son-of-a-gun from Arizona,
Ragtime Cowboy Joe.

He always sings raggy music to the cattle,
As he swings back and forward in the saddle,
On a horse that is syncopated gaited,
And there's such a funny meter to the roar of his repeater.
How they run when they hear that fellow's gun,
Because the Western folks all know,
He's a high-falutin' scootin', shootin' son-of-a-gun from Arizona,
Ragtime Cowboy Joe.

Midi: Ragtime Cowboy Joe

"for fair" - to the greatest or fullest extent possible
syncopated - stressing a normally weak beat
repeater - a gun that can fire several times without reloading
spiel - lengthy speech usually intended to persuade (the root word has the meaning 'to play')

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