Lord, You Made the Cowboy Happy

Bob Nolan
Original copyright: October 9, 1937

The white clouds sail before the wind,
The grass bows to the touch of Him,
The hills are where they’ve always been.
Oh, Lord, you made the cowboy happy.
The plains are big and grand as you,
The skies are always clear and blue,
My heart is always smiling, too.
Oh, Lord, you made the cowboy happy.

I met a cowboy down the trail just the other day.
I still can hear his, “Howdy, boy!” as he passed and rode away.
He turned in his saddle, he waved his hand, this happy sort of a lad.
His smile was sent from Heaven above and Heaven made him glad.

The white clouds sail before the wind,
The grass bows to the touch of Him,
The hills are where they’ve always been.
Oh, Lord, you made the cowboy happy.
The plains are big and grand as you,
The skies are always clear and blue,
My heart is always smiling, too.
Oh, Lord, you made the cowboy happy.

I know that someday, somewhere, the trail will surely end.
I know that when I get there, this message I will send:

“You gave this happy soul to me,
"These eyes that beauty I might see,
"Then, like the wind, you set me free.
"Oh, Lord, you made the cowboy happy.
"Lord, you set the cowboy free.”

One of Bob Nolan's most lyrically beautiful western songs, "Lord, You Made the Cowboy Happy" was one of his earliest compositions. It was registered for copyright October 9, 1937. It was recorded for Columbia two months later on December 16, 1937, but was unissued. Only recently have these unissued tracks become available for us. The Sons of the Pioneers included it in their Orthacoustic Symphonies of the Sage in 1940 and recorded it for RCA Victor on December 14, 1962. We also have an undated track with the Lloyd Perryman solo.

We do not have any sheet music for this song.

SONS OF THE PIONEERS TRANSCRIPTION RECORDINGS

Orthacoustic Symphonies of the Sage, transcription, No. 064073

Teleways Radio Productions transcriptions, Nos. 27, and 243

Lucky U Ranch radio shows (courtesy of Larry Hopper)
- Transcriptions disc TR-139, 140 (December 11, 1951)
- Transcriptions disc TR-256, 257 (February 26, 1952)
- Transcriptions disc TR-545, 546 (November 3, 1952)