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1. |
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Joaquin Murrieta
(Cabeza de Joaquin)
M. Litton
I am Joaquin Murrieta, the bandit caballero
My life is a legend, I lived long ago
I rode from Sonora through old California
I raided her valleys for horses and gold
Then the Ranger Gringos, los diablos, rode from Sacramento
They said, “Hey! Bring us the head of Joaquin when he’s dead...”
At the bend of the river Rosita was bathing
I watched from the shadows, in the moonlight she glowed
“Come away, my Rosita, to a sacred arroya
“Play soft guitar music, sing a language unknown”
Then the Ranger Gringos, los diablos, rode from Sacramento
They said, “Hey! Bring us the head of Joaquin when he’s dead...”
The heat of the sun falls on my sombero
The dust of the desert drinks the blood from my veins
A high sirocco blows from the Sierras
I hear Rosita Carmen Carlita calling my name
I am the ghost of Joaquin, around the campfires they sing
That Murrieta still rides, Rosita rides at my side
Singing “Ave Maria,” Rosita was praying
For I fell from my saddle on that fatal day
The Ranger was grinning, with bowie knife cutting
They took the head of Joaquin, they put my head on display
Then the Ranger Gringos, los diablos, rode to Sacramento
They said, “Hey! Here the head, Joaquin Murrieta is dead...”
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2. |
The Dreamer
04:51
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The Dreamer
M. Litton
Briar Buddha lay low beneath the tree
Drinking holy plum juice wine
King Alexander marched his armies East
Hail Caesar camped along the Rhine
Comets sail out past the moon
Dolphins dance upon the sea
I’ve dreamed of you a thousand years
Won’t you dream, dream tonight with me?
To Toledo came a knight of old
They say he rode up from the plains
He laid a bag of Calcutta gold
Down at her feet then he sang her name
“O Dulcinea, I’ve come for you
“I have slain a mighty beast
“I’ve dreamed of you a thousand years
“Won’t you dream, dream tonight with me?”
Hear the Dreamer’s song in the wind
His shadow shapes the angry waves
The Dreamer’s dream will never end, my love
Until the Dreamer lies a thousand years in his grave
Oh, won’t you dream, dream tonight with me?
Lay down a dollar, take a roll on the dice
The gambler’s bound to play the odds
To Heaven he rolls his hungry eyes
Prays for Lady Luck to wink and nod
To the face that once launched a thousand ships
And for each sunken navy now grieves
“I’ve dreamed of you a thousand years
“Won’t you dream, dream tonight with me?”
Lay the lovers in a ’57 Chevy
With Jimmy’s hand on Molly’s knee
He said, “Molly, girl, you swear that you’re my baby
“Won’t you show me what that really means?”
It’s true they were only sweet sixteen
But the new moon rules the ancient tides
He’s dreamed of her a thousand years
Now won’t she dream, dream with him tonight?
Hear the Dreamer’s song in the wind
His shadow shapes the angry waves
The Dreamer’s dream will never end, my love
Until the Dreamer lies a thousand years in his grave
Oh, won’t you dream, dream tonight with me?
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3. |
Coronado
05:35
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Coronado
M. Litton
Gaily bedight a gallant knight in sunshine and in shadow
Had journeyed long singing a song in search of Eldorado.
But he grew old this knight so bold
And o’er his heart a shadow fell
As he found no spot of ground that looked like Eldorado.
And as his strength failed him at length
He met a pilgrim shadow
“Shadow,” said he, “Where could it be...
“This land of Eldorado?”
“Over the Mountains of the Moon
“Down the Valley of the Shadow
“Ride, boldly ride,” the shade replied
“If you seek for Eldorado!” – Edgar Allen Poe
With thirty horsemen at his side rides the Spaniard Coronado
To search the land they call Quivira for the Seven Cities of Cibalo
“Come ride, boldly ride...”
They stare into the heathen sun, searching the sacred sky
The shadow of a hawk descends, guided by a shaman’s eye
“Come ride, boldly ride... Ride!” the shade replied
There are fires on the distant hills, hear the pounding thunder drums
Phantom dancers fill the clouds, calling for them to come
“Come ride, boldly ride...”
The Franciscan who brought the cross, his name was Juan Padillo
He accompanied Cortez in the conquest of Mexico
But when he came to Kansas, he came to save the savage soul
A victim of his own design, the wolves licked his martyred bones
“Come ride, boldly ride... Ride!” the shade replied
On the morning of a hundred nights, crossing the bone-dry plains
They behold a golden tower, as quickly the vision fades
“Come ride, boldly ride...”
Where lie the Seven Sisters, Golden Cities of Cibalo?
“Over the Mountains of the Moon, down the Valley of the Shadow
“Come ride, boldly ride... Ride!” the shade replied.
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4. |
Prairie Ballad
04:30
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Prairie Ballad
M. Litton
When I was yet a little boy, I asked my daddy one day
What are those old wallows in the pasture where the water stays?
“Come near my son you’ll not believe the sad history of these plains
“The Buffalo roamed a million fold, in one decade all were slain
“The hunters came in iron horses with Big 50’s and skinnin’ knives
“They sold the furs in Eastern cities and left the bones to dry...
“But listen, son, the wind carries their song
“It’s a short time they’ve been gone
“To the living earth all is memory
“She’s a greater beast than we...”
The seasons passed though I weren’t much older
When one morning we found him dead
I cried to my mother, “Why did he die?”
She held me close and said
“His heart was afire and a violent storm was tossin’ through his mind
“He lost his soul to the bandit ghost in the ruins of the night
“Our land was poor and we hadn’t much hope
“One day you’ll understand
“How the great bear dies when he leaves his home
“And so easily dies a man...
“But listen, son, the wind carries his song
“It’s a short time he’s been gone
“To the living earth all is memory
“She’s a greater beast than we...”
From what I’ve seen I must own it seems we live by words
Though we only speak what we’ve been told
Like puppets made of wood
On the browning page of one old day we all promised to be brave
Though we were the sons of the totem then
Now we rob our fathers’ graves
The wind blows the dust of grief, her non-believing rhyme
There ain’t much truth, there ain’t much glory
It’s enough we live and die...
And I listen now as the wind carries my son
In a short time I’ll be gone
To the living earth all is memory
She’s a greater beast than we...
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5. |
Wounded Knee
07:18
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Wounded Knee
(December 29th, 1890)
M. Litton
There’s ice across the rivers on these cold Dakota nights
The eyes of each soldier burns from the wind as they ride
Through the air they hear a ghostly chant
As they follow the trail of hoof prints through the sand
In the morning a Cheyenne scout comes riding down a butte
He says that just ahead they’ll find Big Foot and his Sioux
The Chief rides ill upon a pony drag
His people are starvin’, they carry the white flag...
“We’ll put the captured band in camp at Wounded Knee
“Put the big guns upon that rise just west of the creek
“I want the ranks to form on all sides
“Give the Sioux plenty of food and firewood for the night
“You soldiers skin your saddles, each rank put out its guard
“And keep a steady hand at dawn when we take their arms...”
Then the Colonel goes to parley with the Sioux
“Tell your warriors, Chief, we want peace just like you...”
The White Buffalo Moon rises in the sky
And runs upon the sweaty flank of the black deep night
In their Ghost Shirts the Sioux warriors dance
About the flaming hell where they have all been damned
The Northern Spirit speaks, his lights are red for war
The sun bleeds through the ice as the day is born
A stallion neighs, a woman screams
For both can scent the danger that men can only dream...
Soon the buffalo will roam upon the plains
The elk and the deer will play
The bluestem will flood across the sod
When our warriors return from beyond...
The famous commander of the 7th Cavalry
Was the Wolf of Washita who died with gnashing teeth
There are some from the old command among the men
And they would pay the devil dearly to have revenge
Colonel James Forsyth marches to the camp
And says, “The weapon of each warrior must pass into our hands”
Their sabers rattle as they search through each tent
The Sioux are growing restless as a fire in a changing wind...
Soon the buffalo will roam upon the plains
The elk and the deer will play
The bluestem will flood across the sod
When our warriors return from beyond...
The medicine man Yellow Bird he urges them to fight
“Remember, Wovoka said the soldier dogs will die!”
Then Black Fox pulls a rifle from his robe
One soldier dies then the whole damn camp explodes
The Hotchkiss guns laugh as the knives are unsheathed
The women and the children fall down a dry ravine
Over three hundred Sioux die that day
They lived as one now they sleep in one mass grave...
The warrior with the wolf and bear has died
A blizzard roars down from the sky
Above the wounded the sabers fall
And the eagle has flown to God
The eagle has flown to God...
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6. |
Slow Me Down
05:22
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Slow Me Down
M. Litton
Your music mutes the midnight siren
There is no traffic along your path
You are at peace while they riot
You slow me down, slow me down
You slow me down when I move too fast
You pace my heartbeat by your rhythm
You light the darkness with your laugh
You bow to faith before reason
You slow me down, slow me down
You slow me down when I move too fast
You have known the Gypsy way
You have walked with the first and the last
You break your bread till everyone is fed
You slow me down, slow me down
You slow me down when I move too fast
I’ve watched you dancing through the shadows
To the castanets that you have clasped
Your eyes mirrored the moonlight
You slow me down, slow me down
You slow me down when I move too fast
You have known the Gypsy way
You have walked with the first and the last
You break your bread till everyone is fed
You slow me down, slow me down
You slow me down when I move too fast
What leads the rain back to the river?
What tames the storms as they pass?
What stops the waves at the shoreline?
You slow me down, slow me down
You slow me down when I move too fast.
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7. |
Magdalene
07:35
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Magdalene
M. Litton
Christ was the lover of Magdalene
His love could wash away her sin
She gave him shelter through his lone crusade
He held her warmly in a cloak of red
By the lines of his palms she knew her lord...
In the morning the soldiers came and he fled
To Egypt and back in a cold March rain
He was forty days in the desert, he made it to the border...
Then he rode to the window of Magdalene
She dressed his wounds, he rode again
Through the hills and border towns his fame soon spread
They called him an outlaw, he gave the poor their bread
He sang her the Song of Solomon
His love ruled death, his word was law
The son of a carpenter rode like a prince
Old men wept and the children danced
For they saw by his deeds he was a king...
He said, The last shall be first, the wicked be damned!
As he rode through the temple with a cracking whip
Twelve left their ships and their lands
To follow out of Galilee
He answered the cry in the wilderness
He rode the path of the prophet’s curse
Above every arch which lined the streets
Flew the eagle and the gray gargoyle
They were slain by the dove and his wisdom...
In the shadow of winter he found a sparrow
By his breath it flew into a tree
He said, Even so will we go into the Kingdom...
Then he rode to the window of Magdalene
She dressed his wounds, he rode again
Through the hills and border towns his fame soon spread
They called him an outlaw, he gave the poor their bread
Kissed by Judas at Gethsemane
They hung him on a cross at Cavalry
They tore off his boots to drive the nails
He was naked and they laughed like wolves
I thirst, I thirst, was his only cry...
When they pierced his flesh so cracked the stone
Of every wall through the many hills
The sky fell black, the earth bled, as he closed his eyes...
For Christ was the lover of Magdalene
His love could wash away her sin
Through the hills and border towns his name was praised
Some swore that the Christ would ride from the grave
As the moonlight is anchored to the sea
So Christ is captive in our dreams
His ghost yet rides the midnight storms
Shore to shore as the centuries pound
He’s seeking the bed of his Magdalene...
You can hear him thunder through the clouds
He sends forth fire to find her door
She’s waiting for him to come
She’s waiting with their children...
Then he rides to the window of Magdalene
She cleans his wounds, he rides again
Through the hills and border towns the word is spread
They call him an outlaw, he gives the poor their bread.
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8. |
El Nino
03:37
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El Nino
(music by Roger Holden; words by M. Litton)
El nino es el nino de Dios
El nino, el viento caliente oceano
El nino es el nino de Dios
El nino, el viento caliente oceano
El nino, el nino, el nino, el viento
El nino, el nino, el viento caliente
La tormenta, y la vida...
El nino, el viento, la tormenta, la vida
El nino, el viento, la tormenta, la vida
El nino...!
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9. |
Blue Vision
05:23
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Blue Vision
M. Litton
As a child on the prairie he heard the great tales of old
About wild Spanish stallions the Indians tamed and rode
They raced the Spirit Wind, they hunted all the land
They followed the blue vision to where the Holy Mountain stands
O Lord, I wanna ride to the Holy Mountain
I wanna ride to the Holy Mountain
He fords the emerald waters, he crosses the diamond sands
Finds a flower in the desert to place in his lady’s hand
He stays with her one night, the night becomes a year
Still he follows the blue vision as her dark eyes fill with tears
There’s wind, water, and fire
Woman, earth, and sky
A man must tame a stallion and through blue visions ride...
In the shade of a white adobe church where the black-robed priest resides
She knelt beside a tombstone with a black veil over her eyes
Her prayers stir the dust of a long lost Gringo
Who followed the blue vision till the spirit took him home
There’s wind, water, and fire
Woman, earth, and sky
A man must tame a stallion and through blue visions ride...
O Lord, I wanna ride to the Holy Mountain
Ride, ride to the Holy Mountain
Saddle up and ride to the Holy Mountain
Through blue visions ride...
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10. |
Cold Ohio City
06:00
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Cold Ohio City
M. Litton
(She was know as the Bluebell of Beau Simone
I clearly do recall
She dazzled ‘em all with her warm and liquid eyes
Blue as the mountain sky above a late evening silhouette
A night with her a mortal man could never forget
In cold Ohio City, Colorado gold mining town...)
The season was late autumn and the wind blew uncommonly hard
As I stepped up to the bar of the “Gold Creek Sporting House”
Where the chorus gals in gowns waved from the balcony
And swarmed about the fair, raven-haired queen
Of cold Ohio City, Colorado gold mining town
She leaned upon the shoulder of a handsome gambler
Name of Beau Simone
The cigar he smoked never left his lips
He wore a pistol on his hip, and silver-plated Spanish spurs
Suffice it to say he was dressed beyond words
In cold Ohio City, Colorado gold mining town
I knew ‘em both by other names from a situation I’ll explain this time
The months now number nine since their whereabouts was known
And a bitter seed had grown
I’d come to play the card of revenge
Against this lady, my wife, and this gentleman, my friend
In cold Ohio City, Colorado gold mining town
I sat down at their table with a Winchester cradled in my arms
All the others drew apart as I called the cheatin’ pair
They straightened in their chairs
But when he went for that ace up his sleeve
Lord, he never knew what hit ‘im
When my hammer hit the breach
In cold Ohio City, Colorado gold mining town
Through Denver the word was spread
Next morning as they read the telegram
It said, “A drifter killed a gambler and his belle
“But the drifter died as well
“For when he knelt at the dying lady’s side
“She shot him with a derringer holstered on her thigh
“In cold Ohio City, Colorado gold mining town...”
(The mining shacks all are gone
As the breezes blow beyond the Great Divide
And where the stream runs behind the old Hickory Mill
Up yonder on a hill
Beneath a lone white Aspen tree
There lay the bones of Bluebell, Beau Simone, and me
In cold Ohio City, Colorado gold mining town...)
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11. |
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Rocky Mountain Woman
M. Litton
Rocky Mountains got that fever
Rocky Mountains got that stream
Rocky Mountains got some hills so high
I couldn’t climb ‘em on my knees
You can talk about the girls of Spain, the girls in gay Paree
But my Rocky Mountain Woman is the only gal for me
She’s my Rocky Mountain Woman
She’s my Rocky Mountain Woman
Warm as the sun a-risin’ from a cold dark mountain night
She put her hand in my hand when the band began to play
She put a fever in my heart, we danced till the break of day
That sparkle in her eye was like gold in the stream
In that Rocky Mountain Woman I found the girl of my dreams
She’s my Rocky Mountain Woman
She’s my Rocky Mountain Woman
Warm as the sun a-risin’ from a cold dark mountain night
When the snow melts in the springtime
And streams race through the valley
Like a warm summer breeze she brings her love to me
When the wolves sing to the moonlight and deer dance in the meadows
We lay by the firelight...and make love in the shadows
She’s my Rocky Mountain Woman
She’s my Rocky Mountain Woman
Warm as the sun a-risin’ from a cold dark mountain night
Warm as the sun a-risin’ from a cold dark mountain night...
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12. |
Yellow Rose Hotel
04:34
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Yellow Rose Hotel
M. Litton
I love Texas when it’s hot, Lord, and dusty
And that gusty ol’ wind comes blowin’ out of hell
I follow my memory on a high-sirocco journey
To a long ago evening at the Yellow Rose Hotel
She wore a dress colored yellow
In the pale moonlight she glowed
As the wind played a reel through the pastures and the hills
I held her close
Down at the ol’ Yellow Rose
Where she lay in the shadows awaitin’
Like a dream that fades at dawn
Then we made love as the neon flower glowed
And that neon flower was the bright yellow rose
And it’s bloomed in my dreams ever since that night
I love Texas when the blizzards drift the ditches
And the thistles and fences glisten in the sun
I’ve seen tomorrow layin’ like a woman’s sorrow
She’s waitin’ in the shadows, fadin’ as I come
I gambled and lost her down a highway
Passed my last chance so long ago
I was fuel for the fire
Now I’m the ash where that one ember glows
Down at the ol’ Yellow Rose
Where she lay in the shadows awaitin’
Like a dream that fades at dawn
Then we made love as the neon flower glowed
And that neon flower was the bright yellow rose
And it’s bloomed in my dreams ever since that night
And it’s bloomed in my dreams ever since that night...
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13. |
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Spanish Guns and Aztec Gold
(The Romance of Hernando and Marina)
M. Litton
He rode out of Sonora, boys, like an outlaw of old
Singing vaquero songs from the campo
Tales of Zapata and Poncho
Villa rides!
He quit the red banks of the Rio Yaqui
The adobe hut where he was born
To rustle cattle from rich haciendos
From descendants of Castilian lords
Villa rides!
High in the Sierras, above the chaparral
He butchered the cattle in an Indian corral
Then he rode into Durango, sold the hides to an Anglo
For Spanish guns and some Aztec gold
There he prayed in a chapel before he rode for the border that night
She was the midnight’s bronze-skinned maiden
Colored by the moon
An evening flower for the prince of music
His fair Lady of Guadalupe
Marina!
He taught her the art and the language
Of bandits and thieves and life on the run
He made their rings from a bullet’s brass casing
They vowed their love to the wind and the sun
Hernando!
Have you never kissed the breath of the desert night air
Nor tasted the fruit that sharp cactus bear
Sweet as new music, a woman’s ripe beauty
Like Spanish guns and Aztec gold
She’ll flood the sands of your soul with fire
Soon they were hunted through all of Chihuahua
So they planned their way up to San Joaquin
Hernando sold a man his guitar and his pistols
To smuggle them both to the land of their dreams
California!
At the border the Bracero king led Marina away
He told her it was time she paid for her ride
Hernando grabbed this coyote by the shoulder
And with a long stiletto he took his life
California!
In the high Yankee temple the melting pot stews
The Mexican cornucopia has abundant fruit
Her sons and daughters spill across the deserts and the hills
And the Spanish guns and the Aztec gold
Lay buried in arroyos for the day when La Raza will rise!
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14. |
Orion
03:54
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Orion (Barbara’s Song)
M. Litton
Above the rhythms of the rivers, the roads, and the rails
Over the rolling plains, through the western horizon
Above our fathers’ graves, the larks are flying...
Unto the hymns of our homes, our hearts, and these hills
Into the ruined soil, we all are descending
Into that mournful song, where the gods are awaiting...
Then lead me to the land where there are no winters
Where the soft moon shines to my eyes
Asleep in the breast of Orion
Then I’ll be gone
In the cool light of dawn, I will surrender…
Who is the soul of the silence, the sea, and the sky
Who bore the memory of all the ages
Who bore the misery of every race...
Through the will of our women, our wounded, and our weary
Oh, will the marble’s face shed a tear for us
And will the waters of the sun ever part for us...
Then lead me to the land where there are no winters
Where the soft moon shines to my eyes
Asleep in the breast of Orion
Then I’ll be gone
In the cool light of dawn, I will surrender…
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The Gothic Cowboy/The Border Band Lawrence, Kansas
I'm a creekbank ghetto boy. Began my singin' near half a century ago in Canada, then hit northeast, down thru Nashville, Austin, out to Colorado and back to Kansas where I started out and will likely remain. My influences are Leadbelly, Jimmie Rodgers, CCR and The Band, while the juices of a hundred others flavor my music, not to mention the devil himself if that's what it takes to make a song... ... more
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