Joade The Rodeo Clown

Gather round boys and a tale I will tell
About Joade the rodeo clown
This happy feller keep the cowboys together
After they hit the ground

He once was a fighter and a saddle bronc rider
And all around hell of a hand
But a bull got him down away from the clown
He lived but not ride again

But rodeo was burned deep in his soul
And his heart just wouldn't let go
He didn't want cowboys hooked by the bulls
So he took to clowin' the show

With grease paint and red nose and baggy old clothes
His track shoes barreled and bloomed
He earned his keep a fightin' the bulls
And savin' us hard ridin' fools

I was down in the well and hung in my rope
In a show in old west Texas town
The man who saved me from chain and hells
Was Joade the rodeo clown

The bull gored old Joade with his terrible old horns
Then stomped and mauled him around
One of my buddies dragged me away
But Joade lay dead on the ground

The preacher they found for the funeral
Well he didn't have a whole lot to say
He didn't know Joade or about rodeo life
So all he could do was to pray

There's many a cowboy that owes him his life
And the children all loved him too
There were lines on his face and each one was a trace
Of the laughter the miles and the blues

So barkeep get with it and set em up again
I'm buyin' this next round
And if there's any man here who can't drink to old Joade
Then he better just get the hell out