Now old Jake was a cowboy he'd worked his whole life on the range   And he could rope, and he could ride with any man just half his age   Old Jake was my hero and me I was just a green kid   And I prayed that someday I could do all the things old Jake did   Well we sat around the bunk house one cold and lonely winter's night   Just chewin' and talkin' and smokin' by the coal oil light   Well old Jake had been aweful quiet that evenin' and he stared hard and long   He said young puncher you goin' to remember me after I'm gone   Whatever happens to old cowboy heros like me   A broken down part of a man I used to be   Will I be forgotten or live on in your memory   Whatever happens to old cowboy heros like me      It's been a long time and oh how the years fade away   Well I stopped by the bunk house were me and old Jake used to stay   They say Jake died about ten years ago and they buried him out there on the plains   Old friend you might be gone but your memory always stays the same   Whatever happens...