Back about eighteen and twenty-five
I left Tennessee very much alive
I never would have made it through the Arkansas mud
If I hadn't been ridin on the Tennessee stud

I had some trouble with my sweetheart's pa
One of her brothers was a bad outlaw
I wrote a letter to my Uncle Fud
And I rode away on the Tennessee stud
 [bad word] 
The Tennessee stud was long and lean
The color of the sun and his eyes were green
He had the nerve and he had the blood
And there never was a horse like the Tennessee stud

Drifted on down into no man's land
Across the river called the Rio Grande
I raced my horse with the Spaniards fold
Till I got me a skin full of silver and gold

Me and the gambler we couldn't agree
We got in a fight over Tennessee
We pulled our guns, an' he fell with a thud
And I rode away on the Tennessee stud
 [bad word] 
I rode right back across Arkansas
I whipped her brother and I whipped her pa
I found that girl with the golden hair
And she was ridin' on a Tennessee mare
 [bad word] 
Pretty little baby on the cabin floor
Little horse colt playin' 'round the door
I love the girl with golden hair
And the Tennessee stud loves the Tennessee mare
 [bad word]