As a young man I went riding

Out on the western plain

In the state of North Dakota



I met my Nellie Kane

I met my Nellie Kane



She was living in a lonely cabin

With a son by another man

Five years she had waited for him



As long as a woman can

As long as a woman can



I don't know what changed my mind

Til then I was the ramblin' kind

The kind of love I can't explain



That I had for Nellie Kane

She took me on to work that day

To help her till the land

In the afternoon we planted seeds



In the evening we held hands

In the evening we held hands



Her blue eyes told me everything

A man could want to know

And it was then I realized

I would never goI would never go



(chorus)



Now many years have gone by

And her son has grown up tall

I became a father to him

And she became my all

She became my all