C                            F    C
He told a good story and all us kids listened
                 F    C                         G
'Bout his life on the border and the way it was then
    C                            F     C
And we all believed, and when he would finish
             F   C         G       C
We'd ask the old cowboy to tell em again
G/B       Am                C                      G/B
You could almost hear those prairie winds blowin'
    Am                           C         Gsus       G
His saddle a creakin' 'neath his old faded jeans
          C                                    F   C
You could taste the dry dust from the trail he was ridin'
                F      C             G          C
As he sat there and he painted those west Texas scenes


[Chorus]

Dm  C/E     F

    And the grown ups would tell us
        C
    You boys keep your distance,
         D7                            G
    that old man's just tellin' you lies
           C
    But to all us kids
                    F C
    Cowboy Bill was a hero
                        G          C
    Just as true as his blue Texas skies


[Verse 2]

  C                                 F    C
He told of a time when he rode with the Rangers
        F    C                     G
Down on the Pecos and he saved the day
            C                           F  C
Outnumbered by plenty, they were almost to cover,
            F   C    G            C
With thirty banditos headed their way
G/B       Am           C                   G/B
He looked back just in time to see a horse stumble,
    Am                    C         Gsus       G
The captain went down and bill pulled up on his reins
    C                                      F   C
And through a flurry of bullets he rescued the captain,
     F          C               G       C
They rode for a sunset, just the story remains


[Chorus]

Dm  C/E     F
    And the grown ups would tell us
        C
    You boys keep your distance,
         D7                            G
    that old man's just tellin' you lies
           C
    But to all us kids
                    F C
    Cowboy Bill was a hero
                        G          C     A7
    Just as true as his blue Texas skies


[Verse 3]
 
      D                             G    D
Well, I still remember the day that it happened
       G    D                    A
We waited and waited, but Bill never showed
          D                           G  D
And the folks at the feedstore said they hadn't seen him
      G           D    A            D
So we set out for his place down Old Grist Mill Road
A/C#    Bm             D                             A/C#
And we cried when we found him lying there with his memories
    Bm                    D     Asus       A
The old trunk wide open things scattered about
           D                           G     D
And he was clutching a badge that said Texas Ranger,
    G             D            A       D
And an old yeller letter said "Texas is Proud"
 
 
[Chorus]
 
Em  D/F#     G
   And the grown ups that told us
        D
    You boys keep your distance,
         E7                            A
    that old man's just tellin' you lies
           D
   Well now they're all sayin'
                    G D
    Cowboy Bill was a hero
                        A          D
    Just as true as his blue Texas skies