Old Bill Pickett's gone away, over the great divide
To the place where all the preachers
say both saint and sinner abide
If they check his brand like I think they will
It's a runnin' horse they'll give to Bill
Herd his steers 'til he gets his fill
And a great big crowd to watch him ride

Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone
He left me here to sing this song
Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone
Left me here to sing this song

Old Bill Pickett was a mighty black man
and he rode for the one-oh-one
Way down in Comanche land where they say the west was won
He'd jump a steer from a runnin' hoss
Throw it down with a mighty toss
Works for many but he had no boss
The last of the great cow hands

Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone
He left me here to sing this song
Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone
Left me here to sing this song

Now way down south in Mexico he took a great big dare
To try to toss a fighting bull just to see how he might fare
He grabbed El Toro by the horns
Put the bull's nose in his jaws
That crowd never seen such a thing before
For an hour and a half they cheered

Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone
He left me here to sing this song
Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone
Left me here to sing this song

With the great Will Rogers
and wild Tom Mix he rode in the rodeo
And all that paid their fifty
cents would get a great big show
Yeah all that had two bits could see
Bill wrestle steers with his teeth
We'll never see such a mighty feat
'Cause he left us long ago

Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone
Left me here to sing this song
Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone
Left me here to sing this song

It was way down on the Miller ranch in the year of '32
Bill Pickett roped a sorrel stud
just to see what he could do
And that sorrel stud he pitched and bucked
Stomped Bill's body in the dust
At seventy-three he was out of luck
Took eleven days to die
There was nothing they could do

They laid Bill down in a six-by-three
beneath the land he knew
And the head they placed across
said "of his kind we've seen few"
And 'round the fire they drank some wine
And old Zach Miller wrote these lines
Left 'em there for me to find
And put to music and sing to you

How Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone
He left us here to sing this song
Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone
Left us here to sing this song