Cowhands on the Chisholm
From the Songs & Stories album · Trail ballad · Narrative western
Demo recording
Produced with AI music tools, not performed by me or a band. The lyrics are mine, and a live version with real musicians is the next step.
A neo-western that leads with a moving chorus, in homage to the early cowboys, before cattle needed to be quarantined in Dodge.
Lyrics
Chorus
Twenty days of sun and saddle, and a long, long way to go,
Nothing but grass, sky, and cattle rollin’ ’n’ rollin’ on slow.
Verse 1
The dove swept over and into the blue,
Eased the herd through shallows where the river cut through,
Long horns all yeller in the morning sun,
Wadin’ through the current till the crossin’ was done.
Chorus
Twenty days of sun and saddle, and a long, long way to go,
Nothing but grass, sky, and cattle rollin’ ’n’ rollin’ on slow.
Verse 2
The flats laid out blond and dry,
Monument Hill stood high on the sky,
Old Bose rode point, brim low for the sun,
His shadow crept long ’cross the herd, every one.
Verse 3
Grasshoppers rattled off the buffalo skulls,
Harry ’n the buckskin knee-deep as the long day crawled.
Chorus
Twenty days of sun and saddle, and a long, long way to go,
Nothing but grass, sky, and cattle rollin’ ’n’ rollin’ on slow.
Verse 4
Dust hung round the herd,
Beams of light cutting through,
Palomino’s ears were glowing like roses,
Against the darker blue,
Aloft rode quiet, a hawk on the wind,
Teddy looked up and took it in.
Bridge
River, trail, nor canyon care for your name,
Workin’ cattle till Wichita, silvers all the same,
A quarter-section of grassland, when the drivin’s said ’n’ done,
That’ll be time to set the spurs and pistols down.
Chorus
Twenty days of sun and saddle, and a long, long way to go,
Nothing but grass, sky, and cattle rollin’ ’n’ rollin’ on slow.
Outro
Sun throwin’ shadows long off Monument Hill,
Riders makin’ ground, along the Chisholm trail.
