ENDANGERED

In a one-ton Ford
In a cloud of dust
Down the gravel road
Headin’ straight for us
We’re by the home corral
In the mornin’ sun
We’ll all be in love
Before the day is done

‘Cause steppin’ down that rail
In her tight blue jeans
A silver Stetson hat
And her well-worn chinks
She throws the gate out wide
On a Featherlite
Brings a roan horse down
And pulls the cinch up tight

She can rope and ride
A little better than me
She sure is a sight
For a cowboy to see
And she don’t come down
Until the hard work’s through
But take it from me don’t ask to see
The buckaroo tattoo

She’s a daddy’s girl
And she really don’t care
That he’s an oil tycoon
A multi-millionaire
‘Cause she’ll be right on time
When it’s time to brand
When it’s time to prove
That a girl can make a hand

She’d never give her heart
To some rodeo wrangler
Or the college boys
That keep tryin’ to change her
‘Cause she’s in love with her horse
And her cow dog too
And take it from me don’t ask to see
The buckaroo tattoo

I really don’t know where
But it’s gotta be there
Around the back of her somethin’
Around the side of her somethin’ else somewhere
Some say it’s a rumor
But I’m bettin’ it’s true
And take it from me don’t ask to see
The buckaroo tattoo

You didn’t hear it from me don’t ask to see
The buckaroo tattoo

A hundred thousand smokin’ cars
Ev’ry single day
All bumper to bumper
Better build another highway
Right through the wetlands
And the farmland way out west
Then take a dagger
Sink it in my chest
And call it

The Legacy Highway
Right along the flyway
Right through the farmland and fields
Don’t forget to tell the children about the way it used to be
When you take them for a ride down a road called Legacy

Well there ain’t no way to stop
The sunrise or the wind
Changes and chances
They never come back again
Some will remember
Some will forget
Someday our children
Just might regret
We built that

Legacy Highway
Right along the flyway
Right through the farmland and fields
The children might wonder ’bout the way it used to be
When you take them for a ride down a road called Legacy

Don’t forget to tell the children about the way it used to be
When you take them for a ride down a road called Legacy

Talk about the weather
And the prices of cattle
Your wife’s worthless brother
And his brand new saddle

Talk about women
The heart-breakin’ kind
And lay it all on the table
Get it off your mind

Down at the Pickup Truck Café
We drink coffee here every day
We sit and talk the morning away
Down at the Pickup Truck Café

‘Cross the county line
And out on the very edge of town
You’ll never see the sign
Facin’ down on the ground

The world’s movin’ on
The mornin’ radio
Twenty years long gone
Nobody knows where they go

Down at the Pickup Truck Café
We drink coffee here every day
We sit and talk the morning away
Down at the Pickup Truck Café

It don’t matter what you wear
It don’t matter who you are
Cuz most things they don’t care
But don’t you dare drive a car

Down to the Pickup Truck Café
We drink coffee here every day
We sit and watch the time just fade away
Down at the Pickup Truck Café

I never was good at goodbye
I couldn’t stand to see her cry
Lookin’ out at the river all alone
Cody stood behind me like a stone

While she said goodbye to the last of the red rock riders
She said you’ll never see the mornin’ sun
One last ride into the sunset
One last midnight run

We followed tracks down through the canyon
To two lame horses they’d abandoned
The river shinin’ ‘neath that ghost-white Texas moon
I could feel the gunfight
Knew it was comin’ soon

And I said a prayer for the last of the red rock riders
For we might never see the mornin’ sun
One last ride into the sunset
One last midnight run

I felt the shot ring through the black
Cody fell when I looked back
In a silhouette against the silver midnight lightnin’
I pulled the trigger
And I stopped the fightin’

To say goodbye to the last of the red rock riders
I knew he’d never see the mornin’ sun
One last ride into the sunset
One last midnight run

I never was good at goodbye

The canyon road
Tall dark trees
The cabin glow
Smoke on the breeze

It’s a cold autumn night
Rain turns to snow
In the warm firelight
I’m watchin’ you glow

And I bought you a rose and a bottle of wine
There’s a picture of you only in my mind
You let down your hair and I’m lost in desire
When you dance like the fire

It’s dark outside
The shadows play
I’m feedin’ the flames
To chase the cold away

And I gave you the rose and a bottle of wine
A picture of us only in my mind
You let down your hair and I’m lost in desire
When you dance like the fire

We’re curled up tight
And the wind sings its song
In a quiet so deep
In a feelin’ so strong
We’re two lovers lost in each other
These hours before the dawn

And you loved the rose
And we drank the wine
There’s a picture of you always in my mind
I run my hands through your hair and I’m lost in desire
When you dance like the fire

Dance like the fire

Rode down Wolf Creek pass
In the white autumn lightnin’
October twenty-third
Nineteen thirty-five
I was one mounted rider
I was ridin’ alone
On a gray line-back dun
He was the color of stone

On a company saddle
On a company horse
I give him the name
For Chief Joseph Nez Perce
And down Davenport Canyon
Pushin’ seventeen head
I swore to the foreman
They’d come back alive

That night in the canyon
Was windy and black
Except for the lightnin’
That cursed through the sky
The cattle wild and restless
I fought at my fear
Swore to finish the job
Only Pierce could hear

We came to the rocks
And it was too dark to see
The storm flashed around me
Through the cold, pourin’ rain
And the cattle got scattered
Where the cedars hung low
I prayed they would gather
In the canyon below

So I just closed my eyes
And waited to die
In a white flash of light
Down the wet canyon wall
I gave Pierce the reins
And he found us a trail
When we came to the bottom
I took rein once again

Gathered the cattle
And trailed them to town

Now I’m 91 years
And ol’ Pierce is long gone
I’ve seen my last winter
I’ve sung my last song
Still remember the ranges
Still remember the sky
Still remember the darkness
Still see Pierce’s eye

And he’ll come for me
This dark rainy night
Through the white autumn lightnin’
We’ll ride once again

Where the oil road meets the gravel
The grass is turnin’ green
It’s a far cry from the city
And the places I’ve just been
Comin’ up the home road
I see a front yard full of toys
A pretty blonde-haired Mama
And a handsome little boy

And there’s my old Chevy
All covered up in dust
Sittin’ in the driveway
Waitin’ there for us
To load up our horses in the twilight before dawn
You know I always miss you while I’m gone

We’ll ride out through Wyomin’
Cross the Great Divide
And the highway’s not so lonesome
When you’re sittin’ by my side
And we’ll find some misty mountain
And a dusty gravel road
Pull out off the highway
And finally unload

And we’ll leave my old Chevy
All covered up in dust
Sittin’ in the tall grass
Awaitin’ there for us
Shinin’ in the shadows
The whole afternoon long
And you can say “we’ll miss you while we’re gone”

A little part of me that I can pass along to you
Like the aspen and the sagebrush and the sky of endless blue
And a dusty worn-out pickup truck
The day you turn sixteen
And a prayer you’ll understand what it means

To drive my old Chevy
All covered up in dust
Seldom in the driveway
Showin’ a little rust
But it’ll still haul all your troubles
Down whatever road you’re on
And son I’m gonna miss you when you’re gone
But next time we don’t have to ride alone

There’s a brand new gold
Palomino colt
Knee-high in the Colorado grass
And a note by the bed
He reads it again
‘Cause it all happened way too fast
Now he’s drivin’ around
Lookin’ all over town
For her ’66 hardtop Mustang
But her cell phone keeps ringin’
Like the dreams he’s been dreamin’
And it looks like it just might rain

And she’s drivin’ like lightnin’ down I-25
She’s tired of fightin’ and she’s gettin’ restless
She’s leavin’ him sleepin’ while she’s still alive
And by sundown she’ll be back in Texas

He called from the road
From the last rodeo
And said you don’t make it easy on me
To listen to you cry
And try to answer why
I’m the way I just have to be
So she hung up the phone
And packed all her things
In the back of that ’66 Ford
When he came home that night
She turned out the light
And said it won’t be goodnight anymore

‘Cause she’s drivin’ like lightnin’ down I-25
She’s tired of fightin’ and she’s gettin’ restless
So she’s leavin’ him sleepin’ while she’s still alive
And by sundown she’ll be back in Texas

He didn’t really think
She meant what she said
As he drifted off to sleep

Now the sun’s gone around
On that front range town
It’s startin’ to settle in
He reads it again
In the note by the bed
She won’t ever be back again

‘Cause she’s drivin’ like lightnin’ down I-25
She’s tired of fightin’ and she’s way past restless
She’s leavin’ me sleepin’ while she’s still alive
And by sundown she’ll be back in Texas

Lock the world outside the door
We don’t need it anymore
Make it all just go away
Until some cold gray rainy day

You and I we are the same
Both victims of the game
But that’s all part of the past
And tonight will go so fast

Light the candle by the bed
Come and rest your weary head
Outside the night wind cries
I see the golden candlelight
In the mirror of your eyes

In the mirror of your eyes
There’s a truth that never lies
And I get lost inside the love
And I can never get enough

Dancing on the bedroom walls
Risin’ up until it falls
I feel you breathe and hear your sighs
I see the dying candlelight
In the mirror of your eyes

And mornin’s comin’ all too fast
Gotta make these moments last
I just can’t say goodbye
To the mirror of your eyes

To the mirror of your eyes

Mirror of your eyes

I got bucked off down in Prescott
And I’ve been drivin’ half the night
Down this long and lonesome highway
It seems there ain’t no end in sight
I didn’t make the short-go
But if I make it to Cheyenne
There’ll be another bronc to ride
And I just might have a chance
If I keep

One hand in the riggin’
And one hand on the wheel
No matter how far down the road I go
There’s always one more rodeo
She’d like for me to settle down
But long as I’m still livin’
I’ll keep one hand on the wheel
And one hand in the riggin’

What it is that keeps me goin’
Sometimes I just don’t know
For the years that I’ve spent ridin’
I don’t have much to show
While she waits all alone
Hopin’ I’ll come back to stay
But there’s always one more mile to drive
Down another lonely highway
And I keep

One hand in the riggin’
One hand on the wheel
No matter how far down the road I go
There’s always one more rodeo
She’d like for me to settle down
Long as I’m still livin’
I’ll keep one hand on the wheel
And one hand in the riggin’

One hand on the wheel
And one hand in the riggin’

From the cold Alberta plain
You’re a drifter passin’ through
I know you’ll be back again
You disappear into the blue
I think I’m a lot like you

But just a dreamer on the ground
Only wishin’ I could fly
How I long to hear the sound
Of your wings upon the sky
Your hello and your goodbye

Ooahh
Ooahh
Ooohhh
Ooahh
Ooahh
Ooaye
I wish that I could fly

Will you reach the desert shore
Or the California coast
Of all the places that you soar
Do you love Canada the most
Or are you just another ghost

Ooahh
Ooahh
Ooohhh
Ooahh
Ooahh
Ooaye
I wish that I could fly

And is there somethin’ you are searchin’ for
The love you lost along the way
A southern wind down in old Mexico
A golden stubblefield of hay
For your safe return I pray

Ooahh
Ooahh
Ooohhh
Ooahh
Ooahh
Ooaye
See you in the April sky

Little John the hobo taught me how to ride the rail
As he told me of the days he spent wranglin’ on the trail
From the canyons of north Texas to the rail yards on the plain
I learned half the his’try of the west there on that train

And Little John he told me ’bout the rivers he did cross
‘Bout ridin’ through the dust storms on the back of his old hoss
‘Bout bandit pistoleros and the cattle that they stole
And the hundred mile ride to the desert water hole

As we rode out to Memphis lookin’ for a better life
He told me ’bout the past while I thought about my wife
And the miles and years between us seemed like only yesterday
As Little John the hobo taught me how to run away

Little John drank whiskey through the night as we did ride
He said it chased the demons from the canyons deep inside
And Little John he told me that the whiskey eased the pain
So Little John drank whiskey I just drank the rain

While we rode out to Memphis lookin’ for a better life
He thought about the past while I told him ’bout my wife
And the miles and years between us seemed like only yesterday
As Little John the hobo taught me how to run away

When we finally rode into the yard at Tennessee
I looked up at Little John and he looked down at me
He said that he was headed for a town called New Orleans
Said somethin’ ’bout a daughter that he hadn’t ever seen

So we parted ways in Memphis lookin’ for a better life
He’s goin’ to find his past I’m goin’ back home to my wife
For I never will forget him walkin’ down that street alone
Little John the hobo taught me how to go back home
Little John the hobo taught me how to go back home

Out on Highway 84
Forty miles outside of town
Down the old gravel road
You can hear the lonely sound
Of buffalo soldiers fallin’ down

Some who try to run away
Some run away to try to hide
Some are runnin’ from the law
Law don’t ever come inside
Lookin’ for the children of the night

And I sing for the lonely and forgotten
The wounded hearts that need a song the most
And the buffalo soldiers who fought and died
Outside of that old Lost River outpost

The lonely desert buckaroos
They ask for the Little Wrangler Joe
Soldiers like gospel and the blues
Songs from the war that I don’t know
Places in the heart that I don’t go

And the good old boys just out of prison
They like songs about the train
But when I sing a song about their mamas
You know I can feel their pain
Sometimes the tears fall like rain

And I sing for the lonely and forgotten
The wounded hearts that need a song the most
And the buffalo soldiers who fought and died
Outside of that old Lost River outpost

And the wind can make you crazy
Blowin’ through the cracks in the walls
Sounds like the chorus of a thousand demons
Trapped here inside these halls
Buffalo soldiers one and all

So sing for the lonely and forgotten
Sing for the hearts that need it most
And the buffalo soldiers who fought and died
Outside of that old Lost River outpost

And the buffalo soldiers who fought and died
Outside of that old Lost River outpost

Bald eagles
And the grizzly bear
Blue heron
Clean air
And open gates
On open ranges
One and all
Endangered

And the gray wolf
And the whooping crane
Atlantic salmon
All the same
All we have done
They still remain
In a word
Endangered

Reaching out for someone
And holdin’ on to nothin’
In a world
Torn by changes
Like me
Endangered

The white tiger
And the blue whale
The redwood forest
We cannot fail
We must fight
To sustain them
For we may all be
Endangered

Reachin’ out for someone
And holdin’ on to nothin’
In a world
Torn by changes
Like love
Endangered

And we have come
This far alone
Now we must find
A way to go on
We fell in love
We were perfect strangers
Now here we are
Endangered

Reachin’ out for someone
And holdin’ on to nothin’
In a world
Torn by changes
You and I
Endangered

Endangered