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(Ghost) Riders In the Sky
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Vaughn Monroe
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Peak Billboard position # 1 in 1949
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Monroe may not have sung it precisely this way but a recording by him was not
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available so the words and music herein are taken from the sheet music as written
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by Stan Jones
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Monroes' version, as well as competing versions by Peggy Lee (# 2), Bing Crosby
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(#14), and Burl Ives (# 21) were all charted as just "Riders In the Sky"
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Later, The Ramrods took it to # 30 in 1961 with the parenthetical (Ghost) added,
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as did the Baja Marimba Band (#52 in 1966) and The Outlaws (#31 in 1981)
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Lawrence Welk used the original title on his # 87 in 1961.
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An old cowpoke went riding out one dark and windy day
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Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way
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When all at once a mighty herd of red-eyed cows he saw
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A'plowin' through the ragged skies and up a cloudy draw
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Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-yi-o
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Ghost riders in the sky
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Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
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Their horns wuz black and shiny and their hot breaths he could feel
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A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky
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For he saw the riders comin' hard and he heard their mournful cry
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Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-yi-o
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Ghost riders in the sky
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Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, and shirts all soaked with sweat
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They're ridin' hard to catch that herd but they ain't caught them yet
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They've got to ride forever in that range up in the sky
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On horses snortin' fire, as they ride on, hear their cry
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Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-yi-o
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Ghost riders in the sky
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As the riders loped on by him, he heard one call his name
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"If you want to save your soul from hell a' ridin' on our range"
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"Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride"
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"A-tryin' to catch the Devil's herd across these endless skies."
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Yi-pi-yi-ay, Yi-pi-yi-o
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Ghost riders in the sky
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Ghost riders in the sky
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Riders In The Sky
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| Vaughn Monroe |
