old timer (the song)

i grew up in wyoming

in and around jackson's hole

in the shadows of the tetons

where summers are hot

and winters unbearably cold

but the spring and the fall

are always as good as it gets

for over 70 years now

i'd watch the sun rise and set

i've been a cowboy

working the round-ups in spring

i've lived in the mountains

hunted the grizzly

trapping the rivers and streams

always the loner

i've treasured my freedom the most

and though i never married

as a young man i might have come close

from somewhere back east

she came to the valley

with a man who did her no good

he was fast with the ladies

a tin horn gambler

and a cheat whenever he could

she had no friends or family

most of the time he was gone

he died in a card game

and she found herself all alone

alone and afraid and left unprotected

'cause he was all that she had

maybe i should have

but inever told her

so she never knew he was bad

but i'll always remember

standing and watching her cry

there was no one to help her

but i was determined to try

i mended her fences and

fixed up her cabin

i had everything looking good

i laid by her food

and wood for the winter

helping wherever i could

the more i was around her

the more i wanted to be

there was something about her

that brought out a good side of me

i went into town

i brought a new outfit

i got me a haircut and shave

i'd trek through the snow

for no good reason

just to go by her cabin each day

i don't know about love

but iwas quite taken in by it all

till her brother came in the spring

and he took her back to st. paul

i don't go down to jackson

ain't nothing there but motels and bars

too damn many tourists

no place to hide

they'll find you wherever you are

they like to call me old timer

i am getting older i guess

but i don't like the changes

'cause i've seen it all at its best

when my life is over

i don't want to be left in town

but up in the mountains

there is a place

i've marked off my own piece of ground

high in the tetons

above and away from it all

from the top of old grand

i bet on a clear day - you can see

all the way to st. paul