Michael Burton One night while I was out a ridin' The grave yard shift, midnight 'til dawn The moon was bright as a readin' light For a letter from an old friend back home And he asked me Why do you ride for your money Tell me why do you rope for short pay You ain't a'gettin' nowhere And you're losin' your share Boy, you must have gone crazy out there He said last night I ran on to Jenny She's married and has a good life And boy you sure missed the track When you never come back She's the perfect professional's wife And she asked me Why does he ride for his money And tell me why does he rope for short pay He ain't a'gettin' nowhere And he's losin' his share Boy he must've gone crazy out there Ah but they've never seen the Northern Lights They've never seen a hawk on the wing They've never spent spring on the Great Divide And they've never heard ole' camp cookie sing Well I read up the last of my letter And I tore off the stamp for black Jim And when Billy rode up to relieve me He just looked at my letter and grinned He said now Why do they ride for their money Tell me why do they ride for short pay They ain't a'gettin' nowhere And they're losin' their share Boy, they must've gone crazy out there Son, they all must be crazy out there