The Illinois Cowboy

The Illinois cowboy

Champion at the rodeo

Our boy Romeo

Losing him home to the government

Ain’t got no where else to go

Making his way to the south side of Chicago

Romeo rode wide plains

Dust in his hair

Now he's trading his boots for a city glare

South side streets got no cattle

No stars

Just sirens singing

Steel and cars

He misses the broncos

The dust in his throat

The crowd's wild roar

The sweat in his coat

South side Romeo

Where did your lasso go

No rodeo

Just concrete rodeo

South side Romeo

You can’t rope a shadow

But you try

Oh you try

Oh you try

The alley’s his canyon

The trains his stampede

The neon moon’s shining on his cowboy creed

He hums old ballads to a cold city night

Dreams of open fields bathed in golden light

His boots still click on the pavement cracks

He rides these streets like the old dirt tracks

Lost in the rhythm of a world so fast

Chasing a memory that just won’t last

South side Romeo

Where did your lasso go

No rodeo

Just concrete rodeo

South side Romeo

You can’t rope a shadow

But you try

Oh you try

Oh you try