Posted on 03/14/2026 6:29:06 PM PDT by MtnClimber
A cover song by the man in black.
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I like the Outlaws version best, but this one is pretty good.
Jones had first heard the legend growing up in Arizona, where a Native American man had told him about spirits who haunt the skies. A few other elements connect the story to other events that make it seem as though it might not entirely be a legend. However, these remain mystified details barely caught by loose-lipped passersby who’d heard the stories of cattlemen passing through Texas killed when their cattle started stampeding out of nowhere.
It turned into folklore when people started saying it was the ghost riders wreaking havoc, distracting the cattle and unsettling them to their deaths, leading the cattlemen and other animals to the same fate. But when the 12-year-old Jones heard the story, something about it stayed with him. It came to his mind more intentionally some time later, when he was watching the clouds with his childhood friend. They noticed how the clouds looked like ghost riders, which eventually inspired him to turn the sentiment into a song.
Interesting - thanks for sharing...
“(Ghost) Riders In The Sky”
An old cowboy went ridin’ out one dark and windy day
Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way
When all at once a mighty herd of red-eyed cows he saw
Plowin’ through the ragged skies, and up a cloudy draw
Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
Their horns were black and shiny, and their hot breath he could feel
A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky
For he saw the riders coming hard, and he heard their mournful cry
Yippie-yi-oh, yippie-yi-aie!
Ghost riders in the sky
Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, their shirts all soaked with sweat
He’s ridin’ hard to catch that herd, but he ain’t caught ‘em yet
‘Cause they’ve got to ride forever on that range up in the sky
On horses snortin’ fire, as they ride on, hear their cry
As the riders loped on by him, he heard one call his name
“If you wanna save your soul from Hell, a-ridin’ on our range
Then cowboy, change your ways today, or with us you will ride
Tryin’ to catch the Devil’s herd, across these endless skies”
Yippie-yi-oh, yippie-yi-aie!
Ghost riders in the sky
Ghost riders in the sky
Ghost riders in the sky
the best 9not the video0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsfw9CEQITA
Best imo, Geoff Castellucci’s version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5qZrrovpuw
Yep. Change your ways.
Vaughn Monroe again on Ed Sullivan, sing along, if you can keep up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x4V2X2JYvc
Thanks to all who posted youtube videos. All were versions I had not heard.
Thanks.
One of the All Time Greatest singers. Thanks for this.
Thank you!
Johnny Cash was one of the greatest performers for sure. I wish I had seen him in concert.
Yes, I never saw him in concert either. Maybe if I had been in Folsom Prison.
Riders In The Sky (Unedited Version)- Spike Jones And His City Slickers-1949
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9mT-ibaAQo
In my opinion, the best version.
Monroe had an amazing voice and ideal for this song.
When I was a child, my folks had a 78 rpm record of this recording. I wore it out playing it over and over again.
Stan Jones was the Superintendent of Death Valley National Monument, long before it became a National Park.
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