The Ritual of Spring Chords by Red Steagall

_ _ _ _ Before the truck completely stopped, he opened [G] up the door, and in measured steps he ambled
across the street.
[F] He walked into the cafe and took his appointed chair at the table where the [G] local liars meet.
_ A long-haired [G] kid had joined us at the [C] coffee cup cafe.
His grandpa was a regular in our crowd.
Wes's [G] charitist happened to be right beside this kid, [Bm] and the boy was kind of [F] brash and talking loud.
_ And Wes just smiled as Merlene [C] brought the coffee pot around.
They've courted on a sly for twenty [F] years.
McCarty said,
Old buddy, you ain't been here in a spell.
Old [C] Wes looked up and grinned from ear to ear.
_ [C] Boys, I've been out at [G] the wagon.
We've been gone for thirty days.
With all this rain, the brandon [C] got behind and the cedar brush gets thicker every year,
[G] it seems to me.
[Am] Them cows are mule-ear wild and [C] hard to find.
[F] _ The other fellas seemed impressed as Wes put on a show.
[Dm] Camp stories flew like lightning in the air.
The kids say,
Hey, old-timer, [G] just a brandon's no big deal.
Old [C] Wes puffed up just like a wounded bear.
And we knew that any minute now the man would [G] come unglued, cause all of us had seen his act before.
And [F] here's this skinny, long-haired kid with diamonds in his ear, and we expected Wes to
[G] throw him out the door.
_ So when he turned and [C] faced that boy, the place grew deathly quiet.
His neck was [G] bulging and his face was red.
For a moment there I thought I [F] caught a tiny sheepish grin.
[G] Instead of blowing up, he calmly said,
[C] _ If you ain't smelled the coffee when the cookie lights the fire [F] and heard the wrangler bring
the horses in, and slapped your cack [C] aboard the back of some old ringy bronc, you couldn't
hold your own [G] amongst these men.
_ If you ain't up and saddled way before the morning sun [C] and rode the outside circle in
a lope and looked across that great expanse [Am] that God made just for us, hanging you ain't
worth a [F] foot of rope.
It's awful hard for kids like you to even [Dm] understand.
I know that what I say won't make you [A] change, but shut up for a [G] minute and I'll tell you
what it means to men like me who [B] live out on the [C] range.
You hear the cedar crashing, build a loop and then you laugh, [G] the outlaw you expected
is a deer.
You hear the bawling [B] cattle when you reach the [F] roundup ground, that sound is music to
a cowboy's ear.
[G] _ You recognize the brindle cow that got away last [C] year.
Nice to know the hussy's still alive.
A yearling heifers [G] with her and a brand new baldy calf.
At least they're headed downhill, [F] Lord's a drive.
_ [G] You ride along the river where [C] Jim Kelly cached it in.
You always take your hat off at that [Am] spot.
[F] He dodged a zillion bullets on the battlefields of France and a [C] badger hole was Kelly's fatal shot.
And then it comes together [G] in a mill and ball and mass.
Each hand in his [G] position is the best.
[C] The wagon boss rides in the herd on his good [A] Hancock horse and cuts [Am] the drives and yearlings
from the rest.
[C] _
[F] Ain't nothing stirs a feller like a loop that lays just right.
You snag two [Dm] heels and drag him to the fire.
You watch the ground crew as they work [G] in tuned [G] precision time without [Em] the help of panel,
gate or [C] wire.
_ And when the day is over and you've turned your horses loose, you find a [G] place to lay
your sugin down.
You never think of [F] indoor plumbing, mattresses or sheets.
You've gotten used to sleeping on the [G] ground.
_ You hunker around the wagon fire with all your [C] cowboy friends.
The grub was good.
Coffee's hot and thick.
You hear the same [G] old story about Jim Patterson's mistake.
That big gray mule was [F] awful bad to kick.
[G] _ _ _
[C] We still expected Wes to come apart and thump this kid.
Instead he [F] stood and shook the young man's hand.
I come real close to stomping you.
[C] I guess I'm getting old, but I ain't getting soft, you [G] understand?
It's just that I respect your grandpa.
He was quite a [C] hand.
We cowboyed on these planes since 42.
_ [C]
Hell, I'm [Am] just wasting time because you ain't heard a word I said.
It's getting late [F] and I got things to do.
_ _ Wes stood up, [Dm] put on his hat and headed for the door.
The kid said something smart and turned our way.
[G] His grandpa [Bm] looked as though someone [G] had slapped him with a rope.
[Bm] He swallowed [C] hard and then we heard him say,
That ain't your fault you're dumb as hell.
Your mama's who I [G] blame.
She took you off when you was barely three.
She [F] moved you to the city where the herb's a different breed.
[F] I begged her then to [G] leave you [G] here with me.
But it don't matter where you live.
Good [C] manners is the same.
[C] Respect don't stop at [Bm] city limits, signs.
_ [G] If you don't learn to curb your tongue and [Em] listen with your heart,
[F] you're like a hayfork byness all the [G] tines. _ _
Out here [C] we live in harmony with nature, man and beast.
The guy [F] who signs our paycheck is the king.
This time of year is special [C] to old men like Wes and me,
_ [G] because Brandon _
[G] is a ritual of spring. _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
[Am] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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