When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings

Album: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Play Video
  • Let me tell you, buddy
    There's a faster gun
    Coming over yonder
    When tomorrow comes

    Let me tell you, buddy
    And it won't be long
    Till you find yourself singing
    Your last cowboy song

    Yippee-ki-iy-ay
    When the round-up ends
    Yippee-ki-iy-ay
    And the campfire dims

    Yippee-ki-iy-ay
    He shouts and he sings
    When a cowboy trades his spurs for wings

    When they wrap my body
    In the thin linen sheet
    And they take my six irons
    Pull the boots from my feet

    Unsaddle my pony
    She'll be itching to roam
    I'll be halfway to heaven
    Under horsepower of my own

    Yippee-ki-iy-ay
    When the round-up ends
    Yippee-ki-iy-ay
    And the campfire dims

    Yippee-ki-iy-ay
    He shouts and he sings
    When a cowboy trades his spurs for wings

    Yippee-ki-iy-ay
    I'm glory-bound
    No more jingle jangle
    I lay my guns down

    Yippee-ki-iy-ay
    He shouts and he sings
    When a cowboy trades his spurs for wings
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 3

  • Ben from PortlandYeah, Spotify lyrics show it as "thin linen sheet" and I'm 99.9% sure it's meant to be "bindlin' sheet" it's just that "bindlin'" isn't really used much these days
  • Rick from El Cajon, CaHogsworth's comment is correct. The word is "bindlin' sheet" and not "thin linen sheet". Willie Watson sings this solo and uses that word. I perform this song solo and in my band and we pretty much follow Willie Watson's solo version with some inflections of our own.
  • HogsworthI'm pretty sure it's "bindlin' sheet" rather than "thin linen sheet" - a bindle being an old American dialect word for something that's wrapped up.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

90s Metal

90s MetalFact or Fiction

Test your metal - Priest, Maiden, and Beavis and Butt-head show up in this one.

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' Albums

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' AlbumsSong Writing

With the rise of Kindie rock, more musicians are embracing their inner child with tunes for tots - here, we look at pop stars who recorded kids' albums.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Harry Shearer

Harry ShearerSongwriter Interviews

Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.

80s Music Quiz 1

80s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

MTV, a popular TV theme song and Madonna all show up in this '80s music quiz.

Christopher Cross

Christopher CrossSongwriter Interviews

The man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.