Brothers of the Saddle

"Brothers of the Saddle" is a charity song written by Gene Ashby, Rodney Gale and Tommy Lee Varner and performed by the artists of the 1993 compilation Swift Hooves, credited as the Swift Hooves All-Stars. It closes the album.^[1]

Production

The song was recorded live on 13 December 1992 as the finale of the "Swift Hooves for Irad" benefit concert at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville. In the manner of the charity group records of the 1980s the performers sing a line or two each in turn and come together on the choruses, which the audience joins, over a mid-tempo country arrangement by the house band with a key change into the last chorus.^[1]

Themes

The singers address "the riders of Irad" and ask listeners to send a blanket or a prayer, promising to ride with them "from Nashville down to Talas". Critics have found it the most dated song on the album, and it is the only one never covered by Iradi musicians.^[1]

Lyrics

Verse
(Clay Beaudry) There's a rider in the mountains, there's a candle in the snow
(Pruett Brothers) There's a mother at the window waitin' on her boy to come home
(Marybeth Callan) We may never see the valley, we may never know their names
(Boone Hollister) But a horseman is a horseman, and the heart beats just the same

Chorus (all)
Brothers of the saddle, sisters of the plain
We'll ride with you through the fire, we'll ride with you through the rain
From Nashville down to Talas, one song across the sea
Brothers of the saddle, Irad, ride free

Verse
(Darla Kincaid) Send a blanket, send a prayer, send a little if you can
(Jesse Rourke) Every border's just a line drawn by some other man
(Darrell Cobb) Lord, watch over Irad's riders through the long and bitter night
(Clay Beaudry and Darla Kincaid) Till the morning comes on the mountain and the valley's full of light

Chorus (all)
Brothers of the saddle, sisters of the plain
We'll ride with you through the fire, we'll ride with you through the rain
From Nashville down to Talas, one song across the sea
Brothers of the saddle, Irad, ride free

Final chorus
Brothers of the saddle, sisters of the plain
We'll ride with you through the fire, we'll ride with you through the rain
From Nashville down to Talas, one song across the sea
Brothers of the saddle, Irad, ride free

Outro (all, slower)
Irad, ride free

References

1. ^ Talas State University Press (2018). Steppe Ballads: American Song and Iradi Country-Folk, 1980–2010, pp. 74–75.