Linda Ronstadt - Old Paint Lyrics






I ride an old paint
I lead an old dam
I'm going to Montana
To throw a houlihan
They feed in the coolies
They water in the draw
Their tails are all matted
Their backs are all raw

Ride around
Ride around real slow
The fiery and the snuffy are raring to go

Old Bill Brown
Had a daughter and a son
One went to Denver
And the other went wrong
His wife she died in a poolroom fight
And still he keeps singing from morning til night

Ride around
Ride around real slow
Well the fiery and the snuffy are raring to go

Well when I die
Take my saddle from the wall
Put it on my pony
And lead him from his stall
Tie my bones to his back
Turn our faces to the west
And we'll ride the prairie
That we like the best

Ride around
Ride around real slow
Well the fiery and the snuffy are raring to go

Ride around
Ride around real slow
Well the fiery and the snuffy are raring to go





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Linda Ronstadt Old Paint Comments
  1. W.... B....

    Been in love with her since I came back from Vietnam.

  2. R.... B....

    Saw Linda years ago, she was with the Stone Ponies, group before Neil Young! I liked her so much better than him! I have her records!

  3. J.... P....

    There are two kinds of men. Those who lust for Linda and those who have never seen her.

  4. F.... D....

    An angel sings an old favorite 😇 for all of us old cowboys 🤠🐴

  5. K.... R....

    Unless you have known what it is to be a cowboy you can only hear this song. For us we also feel it - down to the depths of our souls.

  6. B.... R....

    Linda sings everything very well. I only wish she had sung this at a faster tempo.

  7. J.... M....

    Sing to me,Linda.

  8. G.... K....

    Linda loved horses and we love Linda. Tender beauty and a strong sexy soul.

  9. W.... R....

    Lovely Linda

  10. L.... C....

    A deep gem from Linda. Gorgeous pipes and this was from the same set where she gave us her take on Tumbling Dice - Sigh...

    L.... C....

    It aint fair,brother,....So many women, but only one of her.

  11. S.... J....

    I'd like to meet the 10 people who gave a thumbs down to this performance. Good Grief!!!

  12. K.... S....

    I first discovered this in a show called heartland and I did some searching and I found this and lord knows this is the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. God that womanhad an angels voice

    K.... S....

    she is an angel....

    K.... S....

    Kate Stefanelli I've seen that when any and the girl are singing it while grooming the horse trooper

    K.... S....

    amy not any

  13. W.... R....

    As lovely as Linda does sound

  14. P.... C....

    LR has never disappointed me; no martter what genre she works in. .My generation's Peggy Lee. Well past my three-score and ten, she still makes me stop, slump my shoulders, and listen raptly.

  15. E.... S....

    Love this Song so much

  16. m.... m....

    There is no one like Linda. She is simply the best.

  17. C.... C....

    the age old.question, what was his wife doing in that pool hall?

    C.... C....

    Ha! Good question..

  18. D.... W....

    I clearly remember learning this song in the 7th grade when the music teacher came around. (I'm 64 now.) It sounds a lot better with Linda singing it than it did with my class! LOL

  19. a.... w....

    How could you not fall in love with her?

    a.... w....

    al webster I know and I'm Gay!

    a.... w....

    I don’t know.

  20. L.... G....

    I LOVE THIS SONG , ITS ONE OF MY FAVORITE LINDA RONSTADT SONGS, SHE DOES IT SO WELL, BUT THEN , I LOVE ALL HER SONGS, IT BRINGS BACK SO MANY GREAT MEMORIES, STILL LOVE LINDA .

  21. M.... S....

    Great comments from all..Linda is from the same era as Ian Tyson..who knows a little bit about horses, I'm sure Ian could provide some insight into 'they're fiery and their snuffy and rarin' to go'..Cheers, Mike

  22. S.... X....

    The original cowgirl in the sand. A Southwestern Senorita with killer pipes.

  23. S.... X....

    Outstanding vocals. Linda - beyond her radio hits - great songs, great musicians and that lovely southwestern girl singer.

  24. B.... A....

    wouldnt a houlihan be a lariat and the snuffy and fiery be horses?

    B.... A....

    the hoolihan or however its spelled is a type of throw with a lariat. big loop.

  25. B.... T....

    throwing a houlihan means to die. I believe it was an old rodeo maneuver to take down cattle that could be deadly and was eventually banned. It came to mean death. The cowboy was going home to die.

    B.... T....

    Never heard of this as death? Not sure what your smokinn??? the planet I grew up on: a houllihan was a rope or a large loop at a cow / calf in a bunch you may or may not catch. slang hail marry shot...

    B.... T....

    ahhh that makes good sense !! goin to Montana to retire. My Dad was from Helena.

  26. S.... S....

    I'm out of superlatives.

  27. R.... A....

    I ride an old paint
    I lead an old dam
    I'm going to Montana
    To throw a houlihan
    They feed in the coolies
    They water in the draw
    Their tails are all matted
    Their backs are all raw

    Ride around
    Ride around real slow
    The fiery and the snuffy are raring to go

    Old Bill Brown
    Had a daughter and a son
    One went to Denver
    And the other went wrong
    His wife she died in a poolroom fight
    And still he keeps singing from morning til night

    Ride around
    Ride around real slow
    Well the fiery and the snuffy are raring to go

    Well when I die
    Take my saddle from the wall
    Put it on my pony
    And lead him from his stall
    Tie my bones to his back
    Turn our faces to the west
    And we'll ride the prairie
    That we like the best

    Ride around
    Ride around real slow
    Well the fiery and the snuffy are raring to go

    Ride around
    Ride around real slow
    Well the fiery and the snuffy are raring to go

    R.... A....

    Rich, I believe the original lyrics were:
    "I'm ridin' Old Paint
    And leadin' Old Dan (packhorse)

    At least it makes more sense to me that way.

    R.... A....

    You are absolutely right. This is a folk song, whose lyrics have evolved. But you're exactly right.

    R.... A....

    Yeah I wondered if Dam was a mare , lol.
    grammar police> coolie is coulee.
    aaahhhh Leeeeenda !!!!

    R.... A....

    Hoolihan

    We get questions about the meaning of "hoolihan."

    In the 1933 Cowboy Lore, by Jules Verne Allen (more about that here) one interesting section of commonly used terms includes entries such as "HOOLIHANING, the act of leaping forward and alighting on the horns of a steer in bull-dogging in a manner to knock the steer down without having to resort to twisting the animal down with a wrestling hold. Hoolihaning is barred at practically all recognized contests."

    In response to our posting that information, Rod Miller wrote "The line 'throw the Hoolihan' that appears in 'I Ride an Old Paint' almost surely refers to a type of loop used in roping, often for catching horses. A hoolihan is a kind of backhand loop, but distinct from a regular backhand loop in that the roper rolls his wrist and the loop rolls over in the air. That rolling motion also describes the motion of a hoolihanned steer in bulldogging -- it does a forward roll. It is unlikely that the line in the song has reference to bulldogging as Bill Pickett is credited with inventing that particular activity long after, I suspect, 'I Ride an Old Paint" was first written and sung."

    Rod also referred us to the definition of "hooley-ann" in Ramon F. Adams' Cowboy Lingo (1936): "The term 'hooley-ann' was a roping term and the throw was used mostly to catch calves out of a bunch and to rope horses. The roper rode with his loop in his hand, and when the chance presented itself, he swung the loop backward instead of forward, and as it came over it was turned in such a way as to cause it to flatten out before it reached the head of the animal to be roped. Just one swing and it could be tossed thirty feet forward. The size of the loop depended upon the distance it was to be thrown and the size of the animal. A good calf-roper who used the 'hooley-ann' might be thirty feet from a wee tot of a calf and start a loop that a beef steer could pass through, but the noose ran out by reason of the distance, and by the time it reached the calf, it was barely large enough to pass around the calf's neck."

    Adams' definition of "hoolihaning" is word-for-word the same as that in Jules Verne Allen's Cowboy Lore cited above. Cowboy Lore was published three years before Adams' book.

    A history site here: http://historywired.si.edu/detail.cfm?ID=49 claims "A Hoolihan is a left-hand-and-around horse throw. The rope is released with minimum of movement."

    A site here: http://home.att.net/~basicbrian/iride.html has the song and a note: "A very dangerous rodeo move, jumping from a horse at full gallop onto a moving cow, to flip it over. The move, named after it's originator, is now banned in competition."

    The PBS History of the West site places the song in the 1868-1874 period, but without documentation.

    In May, 2006, Don comments:

    "My Dad, who grew up in the 1920's and 1930's on a ranch in west Texas, said that throwing the hoolihan could be used to mean 'getting ready to die' similar to 'headin' for the last roundup.'"

    In July, 2006, Milton writes:

    Hoolihan is a loop thrown, usually when you're roping horses.

    R.... A....

    AnglicanXn, A method of roping, long throws.

  28. G.... C....

    Well, when I die
    Take my saddle from the wall,
    Put it on my poney
    And lead him from the stall
    Tie my bones to his back,
    Turn our heads to the West,
    And we'll ride the prairies
    That we liked the best.Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstad are the most beautiful voices of country music!Greatings from Belgium

  29. J.... M....

    I love this song for its simplicity . And that voice. Beautiful .

  30. D.... F....

    Ever since the first time I heard Linda I rushed out and bought every album she put out, sometimes without even knowing what was on it. She's that good that she's never done a bad song in my opinion. I've done this song myself many many times and I often use it when I teaching someone to pay partly because I like it but also because it's simple to play. Two chords C and G seventh. Learning a simple song keeps kids interested and leads them to more complex lessons.

    D.... F....

    Have you ever seen 1983's 'The Pirates of Penzance'? It's a musical film adaptation of the Joseph Papp broadyway hit based on the Gilbert & Sullivan musical of the same name, The cast (who came over from the broadway play) are made up of actors, singer and dancers from both sides of the Atlantic, Linda Ronstandt plays one of the main character, Mabel.
    If you like Rondstadt then you should see this movie because she gets a chance to show her range off something fierce. It's also my favourite movie of all time that I think more people need to know about it.

    D.... F....

    Although her turn in "Pirates of Penzance" is not my favorite, I was impressed by her voice......as I always have been. There isn't much she would not try, like her stint with Nelson Riddle. Still, I prefer the rock n' roll Linda above all. I grew up in the 1970's,  and was fortunate enough to see her in concert several times.

    D.... F....

    I have seen that on tv and while it's not my favourite it's still good. As I said, she's never done a bad song. One of my favourites is  her Silk Purse album. If I  had to pick a favourite from that it might be Life is like a mountain railway, although I like all of them.

  31. F.... G....

    heard on Heartland the Canadian TV show. had to find it. AMAZING!!!

  32. A.... a....

    love it... lots of talent

  33. m.... ....

    This gal always been hot.

  34. m.... m....

    Lovely.

  35. I.... ....

    My Grandpa taught me this song when I was a pup. This is a great rendition.

  36. F.... R....

    Take me to Montana with you!

    F.... R....

    Yeh you better believe it !

  37. R.... ....

    Beautiful rendition. So soulful.

  38. K.... K....

    When I was young I suddenly moved by this song. I realized later this song was sung by Linda Lonstadt so meaningfully...
    This song have still made me riding prairie with sunset horizon.... 

  39. p.... ....

    Proof again that a song can be both simple and beautiful.

  40. L.... ....

    Beautiful voice!  It must be thrilling to be able to sing like that.  

  41. T.... D....

    So simple,so nice, cant get enough

  42. J.... B....

    When I am running pack strings in the high country of Southwest Colorado ,I sing this song to my horses and mules.I dont sound no where near this good .

  43. D.... E....

    Love it . Great version

  44. c.... ....

    A beautiful rendition!

  45. A.... K....

    I heard this song on a Heartland episode and I got directly relaxed
    it's a beautiful song

  46. A.... C....

    My oldest daughter sang this song for a 5 year old show-prestation. I still remeber this happening after 44 years. I looked back to an evernt so far back in time that haunts me to this day.

  47. C.... B....

    Linda sings this so beautifully, she always sang from the heart. 

  48. J.... J....

    Just a little more background.  A Houllihan is throwing your larriet at a cow or calf to lasso them.  Usually if they are stuck in mud.  Of course a Snuffy is a calf.

    J.... J....

    True..but its a counter clockwise throw and it does a roll before it lands on the head of a horse or steer..as i recall.  As a kid I worked on Jim Rogers (son of Will Rogers) who himself could throw the houlihan..as many of the older cowboys..Mostly used when trying to cut out a horse or cow in a heard..
    I wish I could see those cowboys one more time..and listen to their wisdom one more time...The best days of my youth..

  49. J.... J....

    This song in several; versions was invented and sung on Cattle drives in the 1800's.  This is one of the true "Cowboy" songs.  Cowboys would ride around the herd at night and sing to keep the herd calm.  That is how this song came to be.  Linda's version is my favorite.  A close second is Johnny Cash's Version.

    J.... J....

    +Jon Johnson Only just found this by chance as have played Texas Jim Robertson`s version so many times and never knew that Linda sang it. Like everything that she recorded it is superb. Best wishes!

  50. J.... L....

    my dear sweet god she can sing nice

    J.... L....

    YES , THANK GOD FOR LINDA .

    J.... L....

    I have always loved Linda. My cat was "Kitty Ronstadt...."

  51. K.... T....

    Very excellent version.

  52. r.... a....

    I heard an actor sing this on a Gunsmoke episode. I really like it but it is a sad beautiful song that makes me feel melancholy.

  53. a.... ....

    Twenty year crush? You must be our son's generation then. Crushes on her go back much farther than that! Enjoy the day.

    a.... ....

    LOL yeah. You had better believe it!

    a.... ....

    Yes, my crush on her began in 1975 , I was 15 . I still have it today...

  54. D.... S....

    The dobro really stands out in this song....

    D.... S....

    aahhh. I'd never heard of resonator guitars ...

  55. L.... ....

    me too.....

  56. H.... F....

    Linda sings the dickens out of this song. She's the daughter of a hardware store owner in Tucson. She can be as Southwestern as she dang well pleases at any moment, and pin ya to the back wall, so be careful. I gotta say that the dobro really, really helps. I'm part of the generation suffering from about a 20-year crush on Linda, but I'm doing a little better now...

  57. D.... ....

    Me too....

  58. T.... ....

    Beautiful voice!

  59. S.... P....

    Linda Ronstadt --- Good as it gets!

  60. D.... ....

    I love this song sung by this lady...

  61. T.... ....

    I sing this to my baby girl now.

  62. D.... ....

    What a beautiful voice........

  63. B.... T....

    That's total bull shit. Maybe it was used by one of your relatives who was too stupid to know what he was putting a rope on. This is totally a cowboy song, one of the oldest.

  64. C.... B....

    She could sing the LA phone book, and I would listen.......
    Chuck

  65. K.... M....

    I used to sing this song to by baby every evening.

  66. B.... ....

    the song was used down south when the boys was gettin ready for a ol fashion necktie partty. they sang a differewnt sonmg when they was gettin ready to lynch somebody This song was suang fore a han ging

  67. G.... ....

    This girl can sing anything. Anything at all.

  68. J.... ....

    Best version ever of a great old song sung by cowboys to calm the herd on the cattle trails. Linda knocked this one out of the park.

  69. f.... ....

    @ImKaMi09 My mom did too!

  70. c.... ....

    Can anyone hear the chords in this? I can find G and C, what is the other one?

  71. S.... N....

    Thanks for posting this. :) My mother used to play this LP a lot when I was little.

  72. W.... ....

    Love Linda <3

  73. C.... B....

    Just lost my black and white bronc last week-- thanks again for the incredible song------