Night Riders Lament by Nanci Griffith Lyrics

While I was out a-ridin'
The graveyard shift, midnight till dawn
The moon was as bright as a reading light
For a letter from an old friend back home
And he asked me

Why do you ride for your money?
And why do you rope for short pay?
You ain't gettin' nowhere
And you're losin' your share
Oh, you musta gone crazy out there

He said last night I ran into Ginny
They married and have a good life
Oh, you sure missed the track when you never came back
She made the perfect professional's wife
And she asked me

Why do you ride for your money?
And why do you rope for short pay?
You ain't gettin' nowhere
And you're losin' your share
Oh, you musta gone crazy out there
But they've never seen the Northern Lights
They've never seen a hawk on the wing
They've never seen the spring hit the Great Divide
And they never heard old Camp Cookie sing

[Yodeling]

I read up the last of my letter
And tore off the stamp for Black Jim
Little Dougie rode up to relieve me
He just looked at my letter and grinned
And he asked me

Why do they ride for their money?
And why do they rope for short pay?
They ain't gettin' nowhere
And they're losin' their share
Oh, they all must be crazy out there

'Cause they've never seen the Northern Lights
They've never seen a hawk on the wing
They've never seen the spring hit the Great Divide
And they never heard old Camp Cookie sing

[Yodeling]