Uploaded October 2008 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY
AN OLD COWPOKE WENT RIDING OUT ONE DARK AND WINDY DAY,
UPON A RIDGE HE RESTED AS HE WENT ALONG HIS WAY.
WHEN ALL AT ONCE A MIGHTY HERD OF RED-EYED COWS HE SAW,
A PLOWIN' THROUGH THE RAGGED SKIES AND UP A CLOUDY DRAW.
YIPPEE-YI-YA, YIPPEE-YI-YO, GHOST HERD IN THE SKY.
ROY ROGERS, FRANKIE LAINE, MARTY ROBBINS, JOHNNY CASH, DUANE EDDY, PEGGY LEE, AND MANY OTHERS!
THEIR BRANDS WERE STILL ON FIRE AND THEIR HOOVES WERE MADE OF STEEL,
THEIR HORNS WERE BLACK AND SHINEY AND THEIR HOT BREATH HE COULD FEEL.
A BOLT OF FEAR SHOT THROUGH HIM AS HE LOOKED UP IN THE SKY,
FOR HE SAW THE RIDERS COMIN' AND HE HEARD THEIR MOURNFUL CRY.
YIPPEE-YI-YA, YIPPEE-YI-YO, GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY.
THEIR FACES WERE GAUNT, THEIR EYES WERE BLURRED,
THEIR SHIRTS ALL SOAKED WITH SWEAT.
THEY'RE RIDING HARD TO CATCH THAT HERD, BUT THEY AIN'T CAUGHT'EM YET,
FOR THEY'VE GOT TO RIDE FOREVER ON THAT RANGE UP IN THE SKY,
FOR THEY'VE GOT TO CATCH THE DEVIL'S HERD, AS THEY RIDE I HEAR THEM CRY.
YIPPEE-YI-YA, YIPPEE-YI-YO, GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY.
THE COWPOKES RODE ON PASSED HIM AND HE HEARD ONE CALL HIS NAME,
"IF YOU WANT TO SAVE YOUR SOUL FROM HELL A-RIDING ON A RANGE,
THEN COWBOY CHANGE YOUR WAYS TODAY, OR WITH US YOU WILL RIDE,
A-TRYING TO CATCH THE DEVIL'S HERD ACROSS THE ENDLESS SKIES."
YIPPEE-YI-YA, YIPPEE-YI-YO, GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY.
The song is about a cowboy who has a vision of red-eyed, fire-breathing cattle thundering across the sky, being chased by the ghosts of damned cowboys. One warns him that if he does not change his ways he will be doomed to join
them, forever "trying to catch the
Devil's herd across the endless skies."
More than fifty different artists have recorded versions of this classic. Charting versions were recorded by Vaughn Monroe, Bing Crosby, and by Burl Ives. Other versions were recorded by
An impressionable 12 year-old boy rode to the top of an Arizona hill one afternoon with an old cowboy friend to
check a windmill. A big storm was building and they
needed to lock the blades down before the wind hit.
When finished, they paused to watch the clouds
darken and spread across the sky.
As lightning flashed, the old cowboy told the boy to watch closely and he would see the devil's herd. Their eyes red
and hooves flashing, would stampede ahead of phantom horsemen. The old cowboy warned the youth that if he
didn't watch himself, he would someday be up there
with them, chasing steers for all eternity.
The terrified boy jumped on his horse and
took off for the the safety of home.
Years later, he recalled that scary, dark afternoon.
On his 34th birthday, 1948, Stan Jones sat outside
his Death Valley home and wrote
"Ghost Riders In The Sky."
GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY
AN OLD COWPOKE WENT RIDING OUT ONE DARK AND WINDY DAY,
UPON A RIDGE HE RESTED AS HE WENT ALONG HIS WAY.
WHEN ALL AT ONCE A MIGHTY HERD OF RED-EYED COWS HE SAW,
A PLOWIN' THROUGH THE RAGGED SKIES AND UP A CLOUDY DRAW.
YIPPEE-YI-YA, YIPPEE-YI-YO, GHOST HERD IN THE SKY.
ROY ROGERS, FRANKIE LAINE, MARTY ROBBINS, JOHNNY CASH, DUANE EDDY, PEGGY LEE, AND MANY OTHERS!
THEIR BRANDS WERE STILL ON FIRE AND THEIR HOOVES WERE MADE OF STEEL,
THEIR HORNS WERE BLACK AND SHINEY AND THEIR HOT BREATH HE COULD FEEL.
A BOLT OF FEAR SHOT THROUGH HIM AS HE LOOKED UP IN THE SKY,
FOR HE SAW THE RIDERS COMIN' AND HE HEARD THEIR MOURNFUL CRY.
YIPPEE-YI-YA, YIPPEE-YI-YO, GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY.
THEIR FACES WERE GAUNT, THEIR EYES WERE BLURRED,
THEIR SHIRTS ALL SOAKED WITH SWEAT.
THEY'RE RIDING HARD TO CATCH THAT HERD, BUT THEY AIN'T CAUGHT'EM YET,
FOR THEY'VE GOT TO RIDE FOREVER ON THAT RANGE UP IN THE SKY,
FOR THEY'VE GOT TO CATCH THE DEVIL'S HERD, AS THEY RIDE I HEAR THEM CRY.
YIPPEE-YI-YA, YIPPEE-YI-YO, GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY.
THE COWPOKES RODE ON PASSED HIM AND HE HEARD ONE CALL HIS NAME,
"IF YOU WANT TO SAVE YOUR SOUL FROM HELL A-RIDING ON A RANGE,
THEN COWBOY CHANGE YOUR WAYS TODAY, OR WITH US YOU WILL RIDE,
A-TRYING TO CATCH THE DEVIL'S HERD ACROSS THE ENDLESS SKIES."
YIPPEE-YI-YA, YIPPEE-YI-YO, GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY.
The song is about a cowboy who has a vision of red-eyed, fire-breathing cattle thundering across the sky, being chased by the ghosts of damned cowboys. One warns him that if he does not change his ways he will be doomed to join
them, forever "trying to catch the
Devil's herd across the endless skies."
More than fifty different artists have recorded versions of this classic. Charting versions were recorded by Vaughn Monroe, Bing Crosby, and by Burl Ives. Other versions were recorded by
An impressionable 12 year-old boy rode to the top of an Arizona hill one afternoon with an old cowboy friend to
check a windmill. A big storm was building and they
needed to lock the blades down before the wind hit.
When finished, they paused to watch the clouds
darken and spread across the sky.
As lightning flashed, the old cowboy told the boy to watch closely and he would see the devil's herd. Their eyes red
and hooves flashing, would stampede ahead of phantom horsemen. The old cowboy warned the youth that if he
didn't watch himself, he would someday be up there
with them, chasing steers for all eternity.
The terrified boy jumped on his horse and
took off for the the safety of home.
Years later, he recalled that scary, dark afternoon.
On his 34th birthday, 1948, Stan Jones sat outside
his Death Valley home and wrote
"Ghost Riders In The Sky."
