Well there's always been groups of people that never could see eye to eye
And I always thougt if they ever had a chance to sit down and talk face to face
They might realize they got a lot in common
Well I was sittin' in a coffee shop
Just havin' a cup to pass the time
Swapin' rodeo stories with this old cowboy friend of mine
When some motorcycle riders started snickerin' in the back
Started pokin' fun at my friend's hat
One ol' boy said "Hey Tex where'd you park your horse?"
My friend just pulled his hat down low but they couldn't be ignored
One husky fella said "I think I'll rip that hat right off your head."
That's when my friend turned around and this is what he said
"You'll ride a black tornado 'cross the western sky
Rope an ol blue norter and milk it till it's dry
Bulldog the Mississippi, pin it's ears down flat
Long before you take this cowboys hat
"Now partner this old hat is better left alone
See it used to be my daddy's
But, last year he passed on
My nephew skined the rattler that makes up this ol' hatband
But, back in sixty nine he died in vietnam
Now the eagle feather was given to me by an indian friend of mine
But, someone ran he down somewhere around that Arizona line
And a real special lady gave me this hatpin
And I don't know if I'll ever see her again
"You'll ride a black tornado 'cross the western sky
Rope an ol blue norter and milk it till it's dry
Bulldog the Mississippi, pin it's ears down flat
Long before you take this cowboys hat
"now if your leather jaket means to you what this hat means to me
Then I guess we understand each other and we'll just let it be
But, if you still think it's funny, man you got my back up against the wall
And if you touch my hat you're gonna havta fight us all"
Well right then I caught a little sadness in that gang leader's eyes
He turned back to the others and they all just kinda shuffled on outside
But when my friend turned back towards me
I noticed he's ol' hatbrim
Well it was turned up in a big ol' Texas grin
"You'll ride a black tornado 'cross the western sky
Rope an ol blue nortern and milk it till it's dry
Bulldog the Mississippi, pin it's ears down flat
Long before you take this cowboys hat"