The Cowboy and the Hippie

On a highway through the desert beneath an overpass
Sat two hikers just watchin' cars go by
Now one was wearin' sandles with straggly matted hair
Rose colored glasses for his eyes

Now the other was a cowboy, he'd been down on his luck
Lost his money at the Tuscon Rodeo
And he sat beside what remained of his trusty pickup truck
And like the hippie now he's thumbin' down the road

Now some folks don't realize but it's a well know fact
Cowboy's and hippies ain't never got along
Now was it just coincidence or some weird act of fate
That brought these two together on the road?

Well they sat there without talking while the morning sun rose high
When a hot desert breeze commenced to blow
And the fragrance of the incense and six weeks without a bath
Finally drifted down and reached the cowboy's nose

Well, man that really did it, he couldn't take no more
And he tied his old bandana 'round his face
Said, "You greasy stinking hippie you'd put a skunk to shame
Boy, you're a discrace to the human race"

Now the hippie, he just sat there and gave the cowboy a smile
Said, "Man, you don't smell so sweet yourself
Well, I'm not too sure what that green stuff is on your boots
And on your jeans but whew, it's enough to make a buzzard belch"

The cowboy said, "Now listen, I ain't gonna that that stuff from you
No long haired freak's gonna talk to me that way, get up"
Well, the hippie said, "Now hold on man, what good's that gonna do?
You know fighting never settles nothing anyway"

Said, "You know man, in a lot of ways, we're an awful lot alike
Once you get down beneath the skin
Like two books with different covers but the same words inside
We're both brothers of the wind"

"Now we both love our freedom and we'll answer to no man
And you've heard it said to thine own self be true
We're just a couple of free spirts drifting across the land
Doing exactly what we want to do"

Said, "Now me I got my thing and you, you got yours
And I don't see why we can't get along
They say the closest thing to freedom is livin' on the road
In a country where freedom's almost gone"

Well the cowboy, he just stood there and never said a word
But you know this hippie sure made a lot of sense
Well, they shook hands and parted as a truck pulled to the side
And the hippie, he went east and I went west