Between The Stirrup And The Ground

[G]Dust and the sand rise to [C]block out the [G]sun
In the distance a rider is [D]riding
[G]His face has the look of a [C]man who's on the [G]run
Or maybe it's just [D]something he's [G]hiding

Ties up his horse edge of the town
Walks like he knows where he's going
Passes a note to a girl there in a gown
What he's thinking there's no way of knowing

Looks in her eye and he looks at the ground
What he's thinking ain't no analyzing
Turns on his heel and he heads out of town
Out to where the trail meets the horizon

[G]And he's damned
And he's [D]damned
[G]Damned between the stirrup and the [C]ground
[G]Everything he [B]sought [Em]never to be [A]found
Left him [G]damned between the [D]stirrup and the [G]ground

In a town where the winners are just passing through
And the losers are only half living
And the men drink their wages and do what men do
And the girls do more taking than giving

There's a girl with red hair and a fire in her eyes
She don't care for the men she's a pleasing
They put ten dollar bills down the front of her thighs
But she's saving her cash for a reason

She waits for the man gonna take her away
Who won't care what she's done for a living
And he promised he'll make it maybe today
She's hoping he'll do some forgiving

And she's dammed
And she's damned
Damned between the stirrup and the ground
Everything she longed for never come around
Left her damned between the stirrup and the ground

So the man rides away with some dust in his eyes
Makes 'em water as if he was crying
The girl buys a round and laughs until she cries
She don't care if she's living or dying

And a drunk at the bar pulls a ten dollar bill
Strokes her red hair with his fingers
And a girl takes the money and gives him a thrill
But her feeling of emptiness lingers

Tracks of the horseman are soon buried deep
By the hot desert breeze in the west
And he rides like the wind and she sells herself cheap
There just doing the thing they do best

And they're damned
And they're damned
Damned between the stirrup and the ground
All the souls are lost frozen to the ground
They're just damned between the stirrup and the ground

And they're damned
Yes they're damned
Damned between the stirrup and the ground
All the souls that wander never to be found
Damned between the stirrup and the ground
All the little souls that don't know where they're bound
Damned between the stirrup and the ground