C F G C Mary Martin was a schoolgirl just seventeen or so C F D G When she married Billy Archer about fourteen years ago F G C F Not even out of high school folks said it wouldn't last D G But when you grow up in the country, you grow up mighty fast C F G C They married in a hurry in March when school was out C F D G Folks said that she was pregnant, "You just wait and you'll find out." F G C F It came about that winter, one gray November morn C G C The first of many more to come, a baby boy was born [Chorus] C F And cattle is their game, and Archer is the name D G They give to the acres that they own F G C F If the Brazos don't run dry and the newborn calves they don't die C Am Another year from Mary will have flown C G C Another year from Mary will have flown [Verse 2] C F G C Now Billy kept what cattle his daddy could afford C F D G As he went bouncing across the cactus in a 1950 Ford F G C F But the cows were sick and skinny and the weeds was all that grew D G But Bill he kept the place alive the only thing he knew C F G C And Mary cooked the supper and Mary scrubbed the clothes C F D G And Mary busted horses and she blew the baby's nose F G C F And Mary and a shotgun kept the rattlesnakes away C G C And how she kept on smiling no one could ever say [Chorus] C F And cattle is their game, and Archer is the name D G They give to the acres that they own F G C F If the Brazos don't run dry and the newborn calves they don't die C Am Another year from Mary will have flown C G C Another year from Mary will have flown [Verse 3] C F G C Now the drought of '57 was a curse upon the land C F D G No one in Bosque County could give ol' Bill a helping hand F G C F The ground was cracked and broken and the truck was out of gas D G And cows can't feed on prickly pear instead of growing grass C F G C Well the weather got the water and a snake bite took a child C F D G And a fire in the old barn took the hay that Bill had piled F G C F The mortgage got the money and the screw worm got the cows C G C The years have come for Mary; she's waiting for them now [Chorus] C F And cattle is their game, and Archer is the name D G They give to the acres that they own F G C F If the Brazos don't run dry and the newborn calves they don't die C Am Another year from Mary will have flown C G C Another year from Mary will have flown