Old Timer

Tom: D

         D       A
        I grew up in Wyoming
                                 D
        In and around Jackson's hole
                   A
        In the shadows of the Tetons

        Where summers are hot
                                D
        And winters unbearably cold
                 G
        But the Spring and the Fall
                                  D
        Are always as good as it gets
                 A
        For over 70 years now
                                   D
        I'd watch the sun rise and set


Verse 2:
                A
        I've been a cowboy
                                    D
        Working the round-ups in spring
                A
        I've lived in the mountains

        Hunted the grizzly
                                   D
        Trapping the rivers and streams
            G
        Always the loner
                                       D
        I've treasured my freedom the most
                   A
        And though i never married
                                           D
        As a young man i might have come close


Verse 3:
          G
        From somewhere back east

        She came to the valley
                D
        With a man who did her no good
                G
        He was fast with the ladies

        A tin horn gambler
               D
        And a cheat whenever he could
               G
        She had no friends or family
                                 D
        Most of the time he was gone
            A
        He died in a card game
                                    D
        And she found herself all alone


Verse 4:
          G
        Alone and afraid and left unprotected
                D
        'Cause he was all that she had
           G
        Maybe i should have

        But i never told her
              D
        So she never knew he was bad
            G
        But i'll always remember
                                  D
        Standing and watching her cry
                  A
        There was no one to help her
                                 D
        But i was determined to try


Verse 5:
             A
        I mended her fences and

        Fixed up her cabin
                                  D
        I had everything looking good
            A
        I laid by her food

        And wood for the winter
                            D
        Helping wherever i could
             G
        The more i was around her
                             D
        The more i wanted to be
                 A
        There was something about her
                                        D
        That brought out a good side of me


Verse 6:
           G
        I went into town,i brought a new outfit
             D
        I got me a haircut and shave
             G
        I'd trek through the snow

        For no good reason
                D
        Just to go by her cabin each day
                G
        I don't know about love
                                        D
        But i was quite taken in by it all
                A
        Till her brother came in the Spring
                                     D
        And he took her back to St. Paul


Verse 7:
                A
        I don't go down to Jackson
                                            D
        Ain't nothing there but motels and bars
              A
        Too damn many tourists

        No place to hide
                                       D
        They'll find you wherever you are
                        G
        They like to call me old timer
                               D
        I am getting older i guess
                A
        But i don't like the changes
                                        D
        'Cause i've seen it all at its best


Verse 8:
                 A
        When my life is over
                                    D
        I don't want to be left in town
             A
        But up in the mountains

        There is a place
                                          D
        I've marked off my own piece of ground
           G
        High in the Tetons
                               D
        Above and away from it all
                A
        From the top of old Grand

        I bet on a clear day - you can see
                            D
        All the way to St. Paul