South Dakota

It was the 23rd of May and I heard the sergeant say,

"Fuck it, round up the usual suspects and call it a day

We've got no time to mess around

And I'm not dying in this shit hole town for a soldier's pay"

it was too good to be true, but my discharge came through

And I was on the first bird out that I could find

Rode that C-17 into Stuttgart

Fall roundup on my mind

When my brothers picked me up

We got way deep in our cups

We must've tore old Rapid city down

My big brother Jack said "Boy it's good to see you back

What you gonna do now,what you gonna do now?"

Because there ain't much between the Pole and South Dakota

And barbed wire won't stop the wind

You won't get nothing here but broke and older

If I was you I might re-up again

Well, we had good rain this year

Dad fed in some charolais steers

got them way cheap out of Texas

Because of the drouth

We put them out on oats

They hadn't yet grown their winter coats away down south

It was barely even fall

But that blizzard got them all

Left them sprawled across the pasture Stiff as boards

You take a sharp knife in your hand

Skin them out while you still can

And curse the lord

Curse the lord

Because there ain't much between the Pole and South Dakota

And barbed wire won't stop the wind

You won't get nothing here but broke and older

If I was you I might re-up again

These old hides are not worth much

So we'll pitch them off the truck

Pile them up by the horse trough in the lot

Because they sell by the pound

They weigh like lead if you wet them down

And they're all we got

With a gas lease or two we might've just made due

But there's nothing under this ground worth a dime

Now the sheriff's on his way and it's damn sure not our day

It's just our time

Because there ain't much between the Pole and South Dakota

And barbed wire won't stop the wind

You won't get nothing here but broke and older

If I was you I might re-up again