COWBOY IN THE CONTINENTAL SUIT
(Robbins)
Marty Robbins - 1964


Well, he walks out in the arena, all dressed up to the brim
Said he just came down from a place called Highland Rim
Well, he said he came to ride the horse, the one they call The Brute
But he didn’t look like a cowboy in his continental suit

We sniggered at the way he dressed but he never said a word
He walks on by the rest of us as if he hadn’t heard
A thousand bucks went to the man that could ride this wild cayuse
A meaner horse was never born than the one they called The Brute

The horse that he was looking for was in shoot number eight
He walked up very slowly, put his hand upon the gate
We knew he was a thoroughbred when he pulled a sack of Dukes
From the inside pocket of his continental suit

Well, he rolled himself a Quirley and he lit it standing there
Blew himself a smoke ring and he watched it disappear 
We thought he must be crazy when he opened up the gate
Standing just inside was fifteen hundred pounds of hate

The buckskin tried to run him down but the stranger was too quick
He stepped aside and threw his arms around the horses neck
And he pulled himself upon the back of the horse they called The Brute
Sat like he was born there in his continental suit

The Brute’s hind end was in the air, his front end on the ground 
Kicking and a-squealing, trying to shake the stranger down
But the stranger didn’t give an inch, he came to ride The Brute
And he came to ride the buckskin in a continental suit

Well, I turned around to look at Jim and he was watching me
He said “I don’t believe the crazy things I think I see
But I think I see the outlaw, the one they call The Brute
Ridden by a cowboy in a continental suit”

The Brute came to a standstill, ashamed that he’d been rode
By a city cowboy in some continental clothes
The stranger took his money then we don’t know where he went
We don’t know where he came from and we haven’t seen him since 

The moral of this story – never judge by what they wear
Underneath some ragged clothes could be a millionaire
Everybody listen, don’t be fooled by this galoot
This sure enough broke buster in a continental suit