Cole Porter wrote the song on a bet. One of his friends told him he was too "sophisticated" to write a simple cowboy song.
Porter wrote a delightful lyric, won the bet--and made then tons of money when Roy Rogers recorded the song! The version by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters is still entertaining, and of course Ella Fitzgerald does it divinely on her Cole Porter song book.
The only "sophisticated" part of the song is that the first verse is about the cowboy not wanting to be fenced in by jail, while the surprise in the second verse is about not wanting to be fenced in by a woman.
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Wildcat Kelly, lookin’ mighty pale,
Was standin’ by the sherrif’s side,
And when the sherrif said "I’m sendin you to jail!"
Wildcat raised his head and cried
"Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above,
Don’t fence me in!
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love,
Don’t fence me in!
Let me be by myself in the evenin’ breeze,
Listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees,
Send me off forever, but I ask you please,
Don’t fence me in!
Just turn me loose,
Let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies.
On my cayoose,
Let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise.
I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences,
Gaze at the moon till I lose my senses,
I can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences--
Don’t fence me in!"
Wildcat Kelly, back again in town,
Was standin by his sweetheart's side,
And when his sweetheart said, "Come on, let’s settle down!"
Wildcat raised his head and cried
"Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above,
Don’t fence me in!
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love,
Don’t fence me in!
Let me be by myself in the evenin’ breeze,
Listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees,
Send me off forever, but I ask you please,
Don’t fence me in!
Just turn me loose,
Let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies.
On my cayoose,
Let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise.
I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences,
Gaze at the moon till I lose my senses,
I can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences--
Don’t fence me in!"
Updated On: 4/5/05 at 01:05 PM
