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

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

[Chorus]
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
There never was a horse like the Tennessee stud

Drifted on down into no man's land
I crossed the river called the Rio Grande
I raced my horse with a Spaniard's foe
'Til 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 and he fell with a thud
And I rode away on the Tennessee stud
[Chorus]
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
There never was a horse like the Tennessee stud

I rode right back across Arkansas
I whipped her brother and I whipped her Pa
I found that girl with the golden hair
She was riding on a Tennessee mare

Pretty little baby on the cabin floor
Little horse colt playing 'round the door
I loved the girl with the golden hair
And the Tennessee stud loves the Tennessee mare

[Chorus]
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
There never was a horse like the Tennessee stud