Cowboys Don’t Want
to be Heroes
by Mike Moutoux, Western Entertainer & Cowboy Poet

Have you ever noticed in the good old Westerns
How the hero beat the villain, got the girl, and rode away?
No applause, no speeches, no chance that he would stay
He swung up on his horse and headed
out of town
And soon was just a silhouette against the Technicolor sundown
Headed West… headed West…
headed West… 

Did you ever wonder just where he went?
What it was that made that cowboy need to leave?
How he could ride away from that young girl just as pretty as can be?
You thought he might at least look back, but nope
In fact, he usually put his horse into a steady lope
Headed West… headed West… headed West… 

He left something of himself in towns he left behind
Freedom, a certain peace, a kind of hope they never knew
Maybe all they ever needed was one good man to look up to
Well, cowboys don’t want to be heroes though they can be if they must
So when the action’s over this one’s just a fading speck of dust
Headed West… headed West… headed West… 

The girl of course is crying, she’ll never understand
She finally meets and falls in love with that handsome stranger
Who saved the ranch and the town in spite of all the danger
She decides to ask him stay, rushes into town
But they inform her when she gets there that he left at sundown
Headed West… headed West… headed West…

 And we were spellbound in our movie seats
Two hundred people held their breath and waited
We agonized together as she considered and debated
Silently we urged her to do what we do
And tears rolled down our cheeks as they both faded out of view
Cause they’re headed West… headed West… we’re so glad they’re headed West…