Mean As Hell

Attention: This is the lyrics to the album "Sings The Ballads of The True West", but all the lyrics to "Mean As Hell" are included here.

HIAWATHA'S VISION

(Johnny Cash)

On the shores of Gitchgoomy by the shining big sea water

Hiawatha old and greyin' listened to the older prophet listened to lagu

And the young men and the women from the land of Ojibways

From the land of the Dakotas from the woodlands and the prairies

Stood and listened to the prophet heard lagu tell Hiawatha

I have seen he said a water bigger that the big sea water

Broader than the Gitchgoomy bitter so that none cold drink it

Salty so that none would use it

Hiawatha then spoke to them stopped all their jeering and their jesting

And he spoke to all the people

It's true what lagu tells you for I have seen it in a vision

I have also seen the water to the East to the land of morning

And upon this great water came a strange canoe with pinions

Bigger than a grove of pine trees taller than the tallest tree tops

And upon this great canoe were sails to carry it swiftly

And it carried many people strange and foreign were these people

And white were all their faces and with hair their chins were covered

Then said Hiawatha I beheld a darker vision

Many hundreds came behind them pushed their way across our prairies

In our woodlands rang their axes in our valleys smoked their cities

Our people were all scattered all forgetful of our councils

Left their homelands going westward wild and woeful

And the man with bearded faces the men with skin so fair

With their barking sticks of thunder drove the remnants of our people

Farther westward westward westward then wild wild and wilder

Grew the West that once was ours

**********

ROAD TO KAINTUCK

(June Carter)

We're goin' west to Kaintuck down the road to Moccasin Gap

Down the wilderness road

The Dug Road the old Reedy Creek Road

The Road down Troublesome Road through Moccasin Gap

There was a time when goin' way out west meant goin' to Kaintuck

The dark and bloody ground as Indians called it

Indians wars were ragin' and men like Daniel Boone and Michael Stoner

Came down the wilderness road like countless families did

Through a place in south West Virginia called Big Moccasin Gap

It's a hot day in '73 and this is my wife and my kids with me

Daniel Boone lost his boy the other day young Jim Boone is dead twenty miles away

The wagons turn and went back home even Daniel couldn't make it alone

I guess prob'ly Daniel could but he stopped awhile in castle wood

(If you love your wife and love your baby man

Turn your wagons back as soon as you can

Ev'ry Injun in these hills has gone berserk you never gonna make it to Kaintuck)

Ah I bet I'm gonna make it to Kaintuck

We're goin' west to Kaintuck...

The Dug Road the old Reedy Creek Road

The Road down Troublesome Road through Moccasin Gap

**********

SHIFTING WHISPERING SANDS PART 1

(Jack V.C. Gilbert - Mary Margaret Hadler)

I discovered the valley of the shifting whispering sands

While prospecting a western a western State

I saw the silent windmills the crumbling water tanks

The bones of the cattle picked clean by buzzards bleached by the desert sun

I stumbled over a crumbling buckboard nearly covered by the sand

And stopping to rest I heard a tinkling whispering sound

And suddenly realized that even though the wind was quiet the sand did not lie still

I seemed to be surrounded by a mystery so heavy and oppresive

I could scarcely breathe

For weeks I wandered aimlessly in the valley seeking answers to the many qustetions

That raced through my mind

Where was everyone why the white bones the dry wells the barren valley

Where people must have lived and died

I sat down and buried my face in my hands and resting

I learned the secret of the shifting whispering sands

How I managed to escape from the valley I don't know

But now to pay my debt for being saved

I must tell you what I learned out on the desert so many years ago

(When the day is hardly quiet and the breeze seems not to blow

One would think the sand was resting but you'll find this is not so

It is whispering softly whispering as it slowly moves along

And for those who stop and listen it will sing this mournful song

Oh sidewinders and the horn toe on the thorny chaparral

In the sunny days and moonlight nights the lonely coyotes yell)

How the stars seem they could touch you as you lay and gaze on high

At the heavens where you're hoping you'll be going when you die

**********

NARRATION 1

(Johnny Cash)

One day on 1881 the Tombstone Epitaph

A booming newspaper in a booming silver mining town

Screamed out the headlines about a gunfight at the OK Corral right downtown

The headlines read Murder In The Streets Of Tombstone

Well that wasn't such hot news but more stark and spine chilling

Than that was a sight on the boardwalk in front of the Epitaph building

Neatly laid out in beautiful caskets were the bodies of Tom McLowery

Frank McLowery and young Billy Clanton twenty eight years old

A witness at the trial later said that he saw Doc Holliday

Blast away with a nickel plated pistol

And Billy Clanton screamed don't shoot me I don't wanna fight

Today there's no more silver mining in Tombstone

But up there on Boot Hill you can see where the graves of the men are

The ones who fought over or because of that big silver strike that created Tombstone

**********

BALLAD OF BOOT HILL

(Carl Perkins)

Here lies less more four slugs from a forty-four no less no more

Out in Arizona just south of Tucson

Where tumbleweeds tumble in search of a home

There's a town they call Tombstone where the brave never cry

They live by a sixgun by a sixgun they die

It's been a long time now since the town was a boom

The jailhouse is empty so's the Palace Saloon

Just one look will tell you that this town was real

A secluded old dirt road leads up to Boot Hill

Walk up to the fence there and look at the view

That's where they were hanging eighteen eighty two

It's easy to see where the brave men have died

Rope marks on the oak tree are now petrified

At night when the moon shines so far away

It gets mighty lonesome lookin' down on their graves

There lies Billy Clanton never wanted to kill

But he's there with the guilty way up on Boot Hill (Boot Hill)

**********

I RIDE AN OLD PAINT

(arr. Johnny Cash)

I ride an old paint I lead an old Dan

I'm off to Montan' for to throw the hooley ann

They feed in the coulees they water in the draw

Their tails're all matted their backs're all raw

Ride around little dogies ride around slow

The fiery and snuffy are raring to go

[ strings ]

Well Johns had two daughters and the song

One went to Denver the other went wrong

His young wife died in a poolroom fight

But he tries to keep singing from morning till night

Ride around little dogies ride around slow

The fiery and snuffy are raring to go

[ strings ]

When I die take my saddle from the wall

Strap it my pony lead him out of the stall

Throw my bones on his back turn our faces tothe west

And we'll ride the prairie that we love the best

Ride around little dogies ride around slow

The fiery and snuffy are raring to go

**********

NARRATION 2

(Johnny Cash)

John Wesley Hardin lost his roll shootin' dice in the Jim Saloon in El Paso

One night back in '85

For a while he sat there and watched the game broodin' mad

Then he drew a pistol and said gimme my money back

And the timid soul handlin' the cash for the house said

Take it all Mr Hardin it belongs to you

Hardin got arrested for it the next day

But nobody thought to ask him to return the money

He did get told not to play that way anymore

**********

HARDIN WOULDN'T RUN

(Johnny Cash)

I know a man whose plow handle hand is quicker than a light

Wes Hardin is his name they say he travels in the night

For he might have to kill or walk around a fight

And if you ever saw Wes Hardin draw you know he can skin his gun

He won't say how many tried and died

Up against the top hand up against the wrong man cause Hardin' wouldn't run

He rode in like a Texas wind took the eastbound train

Goin' goin' with Jane Bowen till the law men caught up

So long Janie chin up I'll be back again

Off he went to Huntsville Prison so long Janie he cried

Fifteen years she waited till her heart broke and she died

And she left that bad land to wait up in the sky

Free at last the payin' past for all the wrong he did

First free air they let him breathe since he was a kid

So let him come and let him go and let him deal and bid

Near the border in El Paso Lawyer reads the sign

You won't find him there for business every day at nine

For business is real bad one client's all he's had in quite a long long time

Then sheriff Selman's boy broke in to Wes's woman's place

Up she jumped and pistol whipped him kicked him in the face

And John Selman demands revenge for this disgrace

You could see every night by candlelight in Hardin's favorite bar

She'd be hanging on his arm and very late they'd leave there

Headed for the Goose Hair glad it wasn't far

Right through the swinging doors John Selman came with a blazin' gun

Wes Hardin chug-a-luggin' red eye got him in the back of the head

John Wesley Hardin fell dead Hardin wouldn't run

**********

NARRATION 3

(Johnny Cash)

About the time that Tombstone Arizona was at its rip roaring wild wooliest

President James Garfield was shot in broad daylight at a railway depot back east

Someone was heard to remark later I wonder if they'll blame that on Jesse James too

Well if they did blame it on Jesse James they didn't for very long

Because they soon learned that it was Charlie Guiteau

That shot down President Garfield

**********

10.

MR. GARFIELD

(Jack Elliott)

Mr Garfield been shot down shot down shot down Mr Garfield been shot down low

Me and my brother was down close to the depot when I heard the report of a pistol

My brother run out and come back in all excited

And I said what was it and he said it was the report of a pistol and then he said

Mr Garfield been shot down shot down shot down Mr Garfield been shot down low

Lord I knew the President was supposed to be at the depot that day

And we just would't believe that he's shot

But we'd run over there and there was so many folks around

That we couldn't see him but some lady was standin' there cryin'

And I said m'am what was it that happened m'am and she said

Mr Garfield been shot down shot down shot down Mr Garfield been shot down low

Well everybody drifted off toward home finally

And they looked like they felt about as bad as I did

But in a few weeks I heard that the President was still alive

And I told my brother I said let's get on that train and go to where he's laid up hurt

Well when we got to his big house up there I asked the fellow

I said who was it that did it who was it that shoot the President

And he said it was Charlie Guiteau that shoot Mr Garfield and I said

Charlie Guiteau done shot down a good man good man

Charlie Guiteau done shot down a good man low

I heard some fellow there that had been in the house to see the President

And I sidled up him to listen to what he was tellin' and he said

Mrs Lucretia Garfield was always at his side

In the heat of the day fannin' him when he was hot

He said that just that day the President said to Mrs Lucretia

He said Crete honey (he called her Crete)

Said if somethin' worse happens to me after awhile you get yourself a good man

And Mrs Lucretia said James (she called him James)

She said I won't hear to that now she said I love you too much but he said

You'll make some good man a good wife good wife

You'll make some man a good good good wife

(Don't pull in single harness all your life good gal

Don't pull in single harness all your life)

That's what he said don't pull in single harness all your life

Well a few days later I come back to where the President was restin'

And it seems everybody was cryin'

The flag was hangin' halfway up to the flagpole in front of the house

And everybody looked so sad and I asked a soldier boy there

And I said is is is Mr Garfield and he said yeah he's gone

Gonna lay him in that cold lonesome ground down low

Gonna lay him in that cold lonesome ground

Well they laid the President by that long cold branch Mr Garfield's been laid down low

Mr Garfield has been shot dow Mr Garfield's been shot

(Mr Garfield been shot down shot down shot down Mr Garfield been shot down low)

**********

11.

STREETS OF LAREDO

(arr. Johnny Cash)

As I walked out on the streets of Laredo

As I walked out on Laredo one day

I spied a young cowboy all wrapped in white linen

All wrapped in white linen as cold as the clay

Beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly

Play the dead march as you carry me along

Take me to the green valley lay the sod o'er me

For I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong

Then go write a letter and send it to my grey haired mother

And please send the same to my sister so dear

But please not one word of all this would you mention

When other should ask for my story to hear

There is another more dear than a sister

She'll bitterly weep when she hears that I'm gone

And if some other man every wins her affection

Don't mention my name and my name will pass on

Just beat the drum slowly...

Get six jolly cowboys to carry my coffin

Get six pretty maidens to sing me a song

Put bunches of roses all over my coffin

Roses to deaden the clods when they fall

We beat the drum slowly played the fife lowly

We bitterly wept as we bore him along

Down in the green valley we laid this sod o'er him

Just the young cowboy who surely gone wrong

**********

12.

NARRATION 4

(Johnny Cash)

Just like Mr Greeley suggested back in the 1860's many young men went West

But they went with their pistols cocked

It seemed the only way to escape the horrors of war

But sometimes the horrors were even worse in the West

Back on the front the losers Johnny Reb they called him fought all the way

Okay Johnny Reb you can sound down the flag now it's all over

**********

13.

JOHNNY REB

(Merle Kilgore)

Yeah you fought all the way Johnny Reb Johnny Reb

You fought all the way Johnny Reb

I saw you a marchin' with Robert E Lee

You held your head high tryin' to win the victory

You fought for you folks but you didn't die in vain

And even though you lost they speak highly of your name

You fought all the way...

I heard your teeth chatter from the cold outside

Saw the bullets open up the wounds in your side

Saw the young boys when they began to fall

There were tears in your eyes but you couldn't help at all

You fought all the way...

I saw General Lee raise a sabre in his hand

Heard the cannons roar as you made your last stand

You marched into battle with the Grey and the Red

When the smoke cleared away it took days to count the dead

Cause you fought all the way...

And when President Lincoln heard the news of your fall

Everyone said there'd be a victory ball

But he asked the band if they would play dixie

For you Johnny Reb and for what you believed

Cause you fought all the way...

Yeah you fought all the way...

**********

14.

LETTER FROM HOME

(Maybelle Carter - Dixie Dean)

A cowpoke rode in one hot dusty day to a store down in old San Antone

He stood at the window and I heard him say do I have a letter from home

The postmaster looked through the mail that had come

Then smilingly shook his grey head

The cowboke looked sadly a moment at him and these are the words that he said

No letter from home no letter from home there's never a letter from home

(No message from mother and none from the other) there's never a letter from home

[ banjo ]

That night he was shot on the wrong side of town no more of those plains will he roam

I reached for my Bible and gave it to him and said son here's your letter from home

If only I had just a little more time to read it the young cowpoke said

I can't take it with me and I must go on then he died with his letter unread

The letter from home the letter from home no time for the letter from home

(The cowboy laid dead with his letter unread) too late for the letter from home

**********

15.

BURY ME NOT ON THE LONE PRAIRIE

(arr. Johnny Cash)

Oh bury me not on the lone prairie these words came low and mournfully

From the pallid lips of a youth who lay on the bloody ground at the close of day

Oh bury me not and his voice failed there but we took no heed to his dying prayer

In a narrow grave just six by three we burried him there on the lone prairie

[ guitar ]

Oh bury me not on the lone prairie where the coyotes howl and the wind blows free

Where there's not a soul that will care for me oh bury me not on the lone prairie

**********

16.

MEAN AS HELL

(Johnny Cash)

The devil in hell we're told was chained a thousand years he there remained

He neither complain nor did he groan but was determined to start a hell of his own

Where he could torment the souls of men without being chained in a prison pen

So he asked the Lord if he had on hand anything left when he made this land

The Lord said yes there's a plenty of hand but if I left it down by the Rio Grande

The fact is ol' boy the stuff is so poor

I don't think you could use it as the hell anymore

But the devil went down to look at the truck

And said if he took it as a gift he was stuck

For after lookin' that over carefully and well he said this place is too dry for hell

But in order to get it off his hand the Lord promised the devil to water the land

So trade was closed and deed was given and the Lord went back to his home in heaven

And the devil said now I got all what's needed to make it good hell and he secceeded

He began by putting thorns all over the trees

He mixed up the sand with millions of fleas

He scattered tarantulas along the road put thorns on cactus and horns on toad

Lenghtened the horns of the Texas steer put an addition to the rabbits ear

Put a little devil in the bronco steed and poisoned the feet of the centipede

The rattlesnake bites you the scorpion stings

The mosquito delights you with his buzzing wings

The sunburst are there and so the ants

And if you sit down you'll need have soles on your pants

The wild boar rooms on a black chapparral it's a hell of a place that he has for hell

The heat in the summers are hundred and ten too hot for the devil too hot for men

The red pepper grows upon the banks of the brook

The Mexican use it in all that he cook

Just dine it with one of 'em and you're bound to shout

I've hell on the inside as well as it out

My hands are calloused July to July I use a Big Dipper to navigate by

Fight off the wolves to drink from my well so I have to be mean as hell

A sheep herder came and put up the fence

I saw him one day but I ain't seen him since

But if you need a mutton we got mutton to sell

We're cowpunchers and we're mean as hell

Neighter me nor my pony's got a pedigree but he takes me where I'm wantin' to be

I'll ride him to death and when he is fell I'll get me another one mean as hell

I shot me a calf and I cut off her head

Cause the boys in the bunkhouse are waitin' to be fed

They rise in chime with the five thirty bell

And the best one of any of 'em is mean as hell

**********

17.

SAM HALL

(Tex Ritter)

Alright everyone of you can just kiss my hide ha ha ha ha

Well my name it is Sam Hall it is Sam Hall

Yes my name it is Sam Hall it is Sam Hall

My name it is Sam Hall and I hate you one and all

Yeah I hate you one and all till I blame ye eyes

I killed a man they said so they said killed a man they said so they said

Killed the man they said and I smashed in his head

And I left him a layin' dead well darn his hide

A swingin' I must go I must go a swingin' I must go I must go

Swingin' I must go while you critters down below

Yell up Sam I told you so well blast your hide

I saw Molly in the crowd in the crowd I seen Molly in the crowd in the crowd

There was Molly in the crowd and I hollered right out loud

Hey there Molly ain't you pride well damn your eyes

My name it is Sam Hall...

Then the sheriff he come too he come too

Yeah the sheriff he come too he come too

Oh the sheriff he come too he said well how are you

And I said well sheriff how are you darn your hide

Cause my name it is Sam Hall...

My name is Samuel Samuel Samuel my name is Samuel Samuel

Yeah my name is Samuel and I'll see you all in the hell

My name is Samuel blast your eye

My name is Samuel Hall blast your eyes blame ye hide darn ye eyes

**********

18.

25 MINUTES TO GO

(Shel Silverstein)

Well they're buildin' a gallows outside my cell I've got 25 minutes to go

And the whole town's waitin' just to hear me yell I got 24 minutes to go

Well they gave me some beans for my last meal I got 23 minutes to go

But nobody ask me how I feel I got 22 minutes to go

Well I sent for the Governor and the whole darned bunch with 21 minutes to go

And I sent for the Mayor but he's out to lunch I got 20 more minutes to go

Then the sheriff said boy I'm gonna watch you die got 19 minutes to go

So I laughed in his face and I spit in his eye got 18 minutes to go

Now here comes the preacher for to save my soul with 13 minutes to go

And he's talking bout burning but I'm so cold I got 12 more minutes to go

Now they're testin' a trap and it chills my spine with 11 more minutes to go

And the trap and the rope oh they work just fine got 10 more minutes to go

Well I'm waitin' for the pardon that'll set me free with 9 more minutes to go

But this is for real so forget about me got 8 more minutes to go

With my feet on the trap and my head in the noose got 5 more minutes to go

Won't somebody come and cut me loose got 4 more minutes to go

I can see the mountains I can see the sky 3 more minutes to go

And it's too darned pretty for a man over die I got 2 more minutes to go

I can see the buzzards I can hear the crows 1 more minute to go

And now I'm swingin' and here I go-o-o-o

**********

19.

BLIZZARD

(Harlan Howard)

There's a blizzard comin' on and I'm wishin' I was home

For my pony's lame and he can't hardly stand

Lord my hands feel like they're froze and there's a numbness in my toes

But it's only seven miles to Mary Anne it's only seven miles to Mary Anne

You can bet we're on her mind for it's nearly suppertime

And I know that there's hot biscuits in the pan

Listen to that northern sigh if we don't get home we'll die

But it's only five more miles to Mary Anne it's only five more miles to Mary Anne

That wind's howlin' and it seems mighty like a woman's screams

And we'd best be movin' faster if we can

Dan just think about that barn with that hay so soft and warm

It's only three more miles to Mary Anne it's only three more miles to Mary Anne

[ piano ]

Come on Dan get up your ornery cuss or you'll be the death of us

I'm so weary but I'll help you if I can

All right Dan perhaps it's best we'll just stop awhile and rest

For it's still another mile to Mary Anne it's still another mile to Mary Anne

Late that night the storm was gone and they found him there at dawn

He made it but he couldn't leave ol' Dan

Yes they found him on the plains his hands froze into the reins

He was just a hundred yards from Mary Anne

**********

20.

NARRATION 5

(Johnny Cash)

You know women had it tough too movin' West

The broad prairies the thirst the hunger there were just about too much to believe

Especially for for a young lady born and bred back East

Yet with all the troubles and the seemingly endless miles

Across the great wastes the plains the deserts

Someone saw fit to throw a little human interest a little humor

On a long hard almost unbelievable trip

Made by two young lovers sweet Betsy and Ike from Pike County Missouri

**********

21.

SWEET BETSY FROM PIKE

(Jimmie Driftwood)

Now don't you remember sweet Betsy from Pike

Who crossed the big mountains with her lover Ike

Two yoke of oxen a big yeller dog a tall Shanghai rooster and one spottled hog

One evenin' quite early they camped on the plat

Down by the road on a green shady flat

Where Betsy got tired and lay down to repose

And Ike he just gazed on his Pike County rose

[ banjo ]

Well they soon reached the desert where Betsy gave out

Down in the sand she lay rollin' about

While Ike in great tears looked on in surprise

He said Betsy get up you'll get sand in your eyes

Well the Shanghai ran off and the cattle all died

The last piece of bacon that mornin' was fried

Ike he got discouraged and Betsy got mad

The dog wagged his tail and looked wonderfully sad

[ harmonica ]

Well a miner said Betsy will you dance with me

I will now old Hoss if you don't make too free

But don't dance me hard do you want to know why

Doggone you I'm chocked full of strong alkali

Ike and sweet Betsy got married of course

But Ike gettin' jealous obtained the divorce

Betsy well satisfied said with a shout

Goodbye you big lummox I'm glad you backed out

**********

22.

GREEN GROW THE LILACS

(arr. Johnny Cash)

I used to have a sweetheart but now I've got none

Since she's gone and left me I care not for one

Since she's gone and left me contended I'll be

For she loves another one better than me

Green grow the lilacs all sparkling with you

I'm lonely my darling since partin' with you

And by the next meeting I hope to prove true

And change the green lilacs to the red white and blue

[ 12-str.guitar ]

I passed my love's window both early and late

The look that she gave me made my heart ache

The look that she gave me was harm for to see

For she loves another one better than me

Green grow the lilacs...

[ guitar ]

I wrote my love a letter in rosy red lines

She sent me an answer all twisted and twine

Sayng keep your love letters and I will keep mine

Write to your sweetheart and I'll write to mine

Green grow the lilacs...

**********

23.

NARRATION 6

(Johnny Cash)

Maybe at times life on the range was as peaceful and poetic

As those lyrics to Home On The Range imply

There were the calm quiet nights by the fireplace or by the campfire

There was the smell of strong coffee and the night howl of the timber wolf

And always that Saturday trip to town

And to the night-herder the herd quietly millin' around

But a cowpoke knew that even under the night shades of heaven

That any minute all hell could break loose

And start a nightmare of tons of chargin' crazed cattle

Some men may have had no fear of a six gun or a wild mustang

But just one word could chill the most calloused man and that word was stampede

**********

24.

STAMPEDE

(Peter LaFarge)

There's just one word I don't want to hear

When I heard it called it cost a friend quite dear

I can hear it echo as though it were now

When I was a chasin' of the long horned cow

Stampede they're comin' up to draw

Stampede three thousand herd or more

Here they come a smokin' fire boys you better earn your hire

Stampede and hell to score

Now Frank he was my partner he rode point upon my heart

We drank and fought and partnered back to back at troubles start

We heard the call on evening in the thunder and the black

When the lightnin' hit the leaders and the devil led the pack

Stampede they're comin' up to draw...

Our horses they were handy for we had just rode in

We went from drinkin' coffee to thinkin' of our sins

There wasn't time for prayin' there was hardly time to cuss

It was a smokin' roarin' rattle and the leaders were on us

Stampede they're comin' up to draw...

Old Frank's foot it missed the stirrup and his hand it missed the horn

And as the cattle crossed him from his body life was torn

I was mounted and a ridin' when I heard his final yell

Said hey Johnny head the wild bunch and do the ladies well

Stampede they're comin' up to draw...

No I ain't got no partner cause old Frank's done dead and gone

But just so he'd be remembered Peter put him in this song

Some admire headstones but I think he'd like this best

He weren't fancy in his livin' so he ain't fancy in his rest

Stampede they're comin' up to draw...

**********

25.

SHIFTING WHISPERING SANDS PART 2

(Jack V.C. Gilbert - Mary Margaret Hadler)

(Listen to the age old story of the shifting whispering sands)

Yes they always whisper to me of the days of long ago

When the settlers and the miner fought the crafty Navajo

How the cattle roamed the valley happy people worked the land

Now everything is covered by the shifting whispering sands

(A miner left his buckboard went to work his claim that day)

And the burrows broke their halters when they thought he'd gone to stay

How they found that ancient miner lying dead upon the sands

And for months they could but wonder did he die by human hands

So they dug his grave and laid him on his back and crossed his hands

And his secret still is covered by the shifting whispering sands

(And his secret still is hidden by the shifting whispering sands)

This is what they always whisper to me out on the quiet desert air

Of the people and the cattle and that miner lying there

So if you want to learn the secret wander through this quiet land

And I'm sure you'll hear the story of the shifting whispering sands

(And I'm sure you'll hear the story of the shifting whispering sands)

**********

26.

REFLECTIONS

(Johnny Cash)

Never in this world before or nevermore hereafter

Could a land know such a people as the pioneer the cowboy

His clothes his conversation his unique brand of lingo

All his devil deeds of daring his hat his bandana the dirty boots and ragged chaps

But mainly that sixgun dangling so's his hand could get it quickly

But draw your own conclusions lean to your own understandings

Your beliefs and your convictions

Disprove any fact recorded in these sounds and songs and legends

But I ask you if you do be sure you've walked in many mocassins

Over many many pathways and that you have listened carefully

Really listened to the west wind and to everything it whispers

And then go back and listen listen to this once more to these legends and traditions

They're only one reflection of a tick of time of that time

Just ponder on the things that happened

As we gaze so very deeply in the time and place and persons

Seeing now and then the West as it really was

And to tell you of a little that we saw there

And looking backward through a century

There was the True West there was the Real True West

Not demanding an argument but rather hoping you looked with us

And saw it as we saw it

And heard that west wind screaming shouting almost speaking

Always whispering of these things we sang and spoke of

And you'll hear perhaps the things the we said in the stories

And the legends and traditions

Through the wind that breeze these tales of the ones who never made it

Yet fighting heat and mountains plains and valleys snow and hunger

They went westward westward westward

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