Bing Crosby – Empty Saddles

Bing Crosby – Empty Saddles (in the Old Corral), is a classic American cowboy song written by Billy Hill. Hill based the song on a poem by J. Keirn Brennan grieving for lost companions. The song became widely known to the public in July 1936, when Bing Crosby sang it with deep emotion in the Paramount musical Rhythm on the Range, and his Decca recording of it, made on July 14, 1936 with Victor Young and His Orchestra, reached the Top 10 that September.

Crosby’s recording of this and other «country» songs gave them a legitimacy by showing that they could appeal to pop sophisticates as well as rural audiences. He performed them with integrity and did not «look down his nose» at the music.

«Empty Saddles» was later recorded by many artists, including the Sons of the Pioneers, Johnny Bond, and Sons of the San Joaquin. Particularly notable recordings were by Roy Rogers (1947), Burl Ives (1961), Dean Martin (1966), and Jimmie Rodgers (1983).

Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

TOP 100 WESTERN SONG

Bing Crosby – Empty Saddles lyrics

There’s something strange in the old corral
There’s a breeze, though the wind has died
Though I’m alone in the old corral
Seems there is someone at my side

Empty saddles in the old corral
Where do you ride tonight?
Are you roundin’ up the dogies
The strays of long ago
Are you on the trail of buffalo?

Empty saddles in the old corral
Where do you ride tonight?
Are there rustlers on the border
Or a band of Navajo
Are you headin’ for the Alamo?

Empty guns covered with rust
Where do you talk tonight?
Empty boots covered with dust
Where do you walk tonight?

Empty saddles in the old corral
My tears will be dried tonight
If you’ll only say I’m lonely
As you carry my old pal
Empty saddles in the old corral

There is no smoke, still the fires burn,
There’s no song, still I hear guitars,
There is no dust, still the ghosts return
Softly to vanish through the bars

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