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