Along about eighteen and twenty-five
I left Tennessee very much alive
I never woulda got through the Arkansas mud
If I hadn't been a-ridin' on the Tennessee stud

I had some trouble with my sweetheart's pa
One of her brothers was a bad outlaw
I sent her a letter by my Uncle Fud
And I rode away on the Tennessee stud

The Tennessee stud was long and lean
The colour 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

One day I was a-ridin' through a beautiful land
When I ran smack into an Indian band
They jumped their nags with a whoop and a yell
And away we went like a bat outta hell

I circled their camp for a time or two
To show 'em what a Tennessee horse can do
Them Redskin boys couldn't get my blood
'Cause I was a-ridin' on the Tennessee stud

The Tennessee stud was long and lean
The colour 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
We drifted on down into no man's land
We crossed the river called the Rio Grande
I raced my horse with a Spaniard bold
Till I got me a skin full of silver and gold

Me and a gambler we couldn't agree
We got in a fight over Tennessee
We jerked our guns, he fell with a thud
And I got away on the Tennessee stud

The Tennessee stud was long and lean
The colour 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

Well I got as lonesome as a man can be
A-dreamin' of my girl in Tennessee
The Tennessee stud's green eyes turned blue
'Cause he was dreamin' of his sweetheart too

We loped right on across Arkansas
I whupped her brother and whupped her Pa
I found that girl with the golden hair
And she was a-ridin' on a Tennessee mare

The Tennessee stud was long and lean
The colour 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
Stirrup to stirrup and side by side
We crossed the mountains and the valleys wide
We came to Big Muddy and we forded the flood
On the Tennessee mare and the Tennessee stud

A pretty little baby on the cabin floor
A little horse colt playin' round the door
I love the girl with the golden hair
And the Tennessee stud loves the Tennessee mare

The Tennessee stud was long and lean
The colour 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