I was mindin' my business and holdin' the fort And I still remember how you sallied forth And my mind, it was busy, warnin' my heart But, hell, you ain't a cowboy if you ain't been bucked off The story's familiar, the oldest tale in the west I fell into love then the bird left the nest Well I guess that there's reasons we let our hard hearts go soft And you ain't a cowboy if you ain't been bucked off There's all kinds of horses will leave you grabbin' the breeze Busted up and broken up with scars you can't see But if you ain't been bucked off and been throwed a few times It don't count for nothin' when you make that last ride Well the years have passed quickly and ain't nothin's the same Only I don't feel different and you've hardly changed Well I guess what I'm sayin' is I'll give one last nod 'Cause you ain't a cowboy if you ain't been bucked off