Ridin' on to El Paso, followin' the rodeo When she stole my heart under a desert moon In a bordertown down in Mexico, where all the lonely cowboys go Stands a mission church at the end of a crowded street Was there I first caught sight of her alone, my heart began to stir She was kneeling there at the foot of a painted cross On the borderline, Crossing the heartlands again and again On the borderline, If lightning would strike me, I'd never know when My heart must always remain on the borderline Had to stay another day if only just to find a way to meet that girl who prays by the lonesome grave They say she lost her only one to a battle of the blazing guns Now she cries each night and her tears stain the desert sand She vowed to never give her heart to someone else if they should part I'll never meet those eyes to tell her I love her so I'm on the borderline Crossing the heartlands again and again On the borderline If lightning would strike me I'd never know when My heart must always remain on the borderline