| Medicine Tree Music |
| "Trails Plowed Under" Lyrics |
Fight No More Forever
“Hear me my chiefs, I am tired
My heart is sick and sad
I want some time to look for my children
See how many I can find”
Oh Wallowa, Oh Lapwai
Whitebird Canyon, we crossed the Salmon
Clearwater, clear skies
Clearly some room to die
Friendships once had known
Their memories still linger
Oh how much we’d grown
But now it’s down to pointin’ fingers, memories linger
After Fort Fizzle, things began to sizzle
Hearts and souls lost at the Big Hole
Camas Meadow, Canyon Creek
Canada in a few short weeks
Oh we might have known
Promises would be broken
We came with heart in hand
Words need not be spoken, promises broken
We crossed the Musselshell, the border we could smell
Jumped at Cow Island, the beginning of the end
Soun Tetoken, he lay broken
Words of wisdom need be spoken
“From where the sun now stands,
I will fight no more forever”
Born into this land
It’s a bond we’ll never sever
“Hear me my chiefs, I am tired
My heart is sick and sad
I want some time to look for my children
See how many I can find”
“Hear me my chiefs, I am tired
My heart is sick and sad
I want some time to look for my children
See how many I can find”
Oh Wallowa, Oh Lapwai
Whitebird Canyon, we crossed the Salmon
Clearwater, clear skies
Clearly some room to die
Friendships once had known
Their memories still linger
Oh how much we’d grown
But now it’s down to pointin’ fingers, memories linger
After Fort Fizzle, things began to sizzle
Hearts and souls lost at the Big Hole
Camas Meadow, Canyon Creek
Canada in a few short weeks
Oh we might have known
Promises would be broken
We came with heart in hand
Words need not be spoken, promises broken
We crossed the Musselshell, the border we could smell
Jumped at Cow Island, the beginning of the end
Soun Tetoken, he lay broken
Words of wisdom need be spoken
“From where the sun now stands,
I will fight no more forever”
Born into this land
It’s a bond we’ll never sever
“Hear me my chiefs, I am tired
My heart is sick and sad
I want some time to look for my children
See how many I can find”
John Muir/Hymn to the Wilderness
John Muir of the mountains
sauntering along
In the high Sierras
singing a song
Singing, climb the mountains
and get their good tidings
Nature’s peace will flow into you
like sunlight through the trees
The winds will bring you freshness
The storms their energies
And your cares will drop away
like autumn leaves
I’ve roamed and I’ve rambled
this whole wide world round
And the Yosemite Valley
is the finest I’ve found
With her wild granite heights
Where waterfalls abound
Oh the Yosemite is
a temple profound
John Muir of the mountains
sauntering along
In the high Sierras
singing a song
Singing, climb the mountains
and get their good tidings
Nature’s peace will flow into you
like sunlight through the trees
The winds will bring you freshness
The storms their energies
And your cares will drop away
like autumn leaves
I’ve roamed and I’ve rambled
this whole wide world round
And the Yosemite Valley
is the finest I’ve found
With her wild granite heights
Where waterfalls abound
Oh the Yosemite is
a temple profound
Gold Fever
My name is Skeleton Kelly, you’ve seen me around
From the Barbary Coast to the Mother Load, where gold sparkles
from the ground
From Angels Camp to Monterey, up in old Hangtown
Gold fever is an earthquake knockin’ everybody down
January 24, 1848
James Marshall found the golden seed that grew the golden state
Gold fever spread, a plague of greed, as dreamers pushed their fate
A stampede of 49ers broke down the golden gate
CHORUS
From Sutter’s Mill to Placerville
There’s one thing that’s for sure
To draw your last breath
Is gold fever’s only cure
I panned gold on the Stanislaus, the Merced, the Tuolume
The Sacramento River yeilded scant paydirt to me
The toil was hard, the wages nill, the sun it burned my brain
And so I turned to games of chance, a gambler I became
Sonora, Mariposa. Old Mukulume Hill
Men sell theirs souls for the Mother Load, they cheat, they lie, they
kill
In every placer diggings men struggle for the ore
But the only ones to hit paydirt are the San Francisco whores
CHORUS
Down from the diggings the miners come to spree
To fandango, to spark and woo, a golden jubilee
Aces kiss the queen of diamonds as the whiskey laughter drones
I gather up my winnings leaving only skin and bones
In the Yerba Buena card room, down in Chinatown
Joaquin Murieta himself finally gunned me down
He called me out for cheating, he’d lost a considerable sum
And when he drew his pistol my gold fever cure had come
CHORUS
My name is Skeleton Kelly, you’ve seen me around
From the Barbary Coast to the Mother Load, where gold sparkles
from the ground
From Angels Camp to Monterey, up in old Hangtown
Gold fever is an earthquake knockin’ everybody down
January 24, 1848
James Marshall found the golden seed that grew the golden state
Gold fever spread, a plague of greed, as dreamers pushed their fate
A stampede of 49ers broke down the golden gate
CHORUS
From Sutter’s Mill to Placerville
There’s one thing that’s for sure
To draw your last breath
Is gold fever’s only cure
I panned gold on the Stanislaus, the Merced, the Tuolume
The Sacramento River yeilded scant paydirt to me
The toil was hard, the wages nill, the sun it burned my brain
And so I turned to games of chance, a gambler I became
Sonora, Mariposa. Old Mukulume Hill
Men sell theirs souls for the Mother Load, they cheat, they lie, they
kill
In every placer diggings men struggle for the ore
But the only ones to hit paydirt are the San Francisco whores
CHORUS
Down from the diggings the miners come to spree
To fandango, to spark and woo, a golden jubilee
Aces kiss the queen of diamonds as the whiskey laughter drones
I gather up my winnings leaving only skin and bones
In the Yerba Buena card room, down in Chinatown
Joaquin Murieta himself finally gunned me down
He called me out for cheating, he’d lost a considerable sum
And when he drew his pistol my gold fever cure had come
CHORUS
John Muir/A Mountaineer’s Prayer
Or’ the next ridge and beyond
To the mountains I belong
The trail it leads me on and on
Or’ the next ridge an beyond
Sun shines not on, but in us all
The wild heart yearns to hear the call
of cascading waterfalls
Echo off the canyon walls
Walk along the high hills feelin’ free
Silence rings like a bell
Holding on to the heart of the mystery
A peace that no tongue can tell
In the stillness of the night
Beyond the ring of firelight
The Milky Way is our delight
Vast and glittering tonight
Walk along the high hills feelin’ free
Silence rings like a bell
Holding on to the heart of the mystery
A peace that no tongue can tell
Or’ the next ridge and beyond
To the mountains I belong
The trail it leads me on and on
Or’ the next ridge and beyond
Or’ the next ridge and beyond
To the mountains I belong
The trail it leads me on and on
Or’ the next ridge an beyond
Sun shines not on, but in us all
The wild heart yearns to hear the call
of cascading waterfalls
Echo off the canyon walls
Walk along the high hills feelin’ free
Silence rings like a bell
Holding on to the heart of the mystery
A peace that no tongue can tell
In the stillness of the night
Beyond the ring of firelight
The Milky Way is our delight
Vast and glittering tonight
Walk along the high hills feelin’ free
Silence rings like a bell
Holding on to the heart of the mystery
A peace that no tongue can tell
Or’ the next ridge and beyond
To the mountains I belong
The trail it leads me on and on
Or’ the next ridge and beyond
Annie Oakley
Miss Annie Oakley real straight shooter
Miss Annie Oakley, Yahoo
Miss Annie Oakley real straight shooter
Miss Annie Oakley, Yahoo
She could outshoot any man
She showed that a woman can
Annie never missed her mark
That buffalo gal sure had the spark
Take me with you
Take me with you
Buffalo Bill put on a good show
Way back when before VCRs
In the eighteen eighties and nineties
Annie was the first superstar
Chief Sitting Bull loved Little Sure Shot
And he made her one of the Sioux
Queen Victoria, she saw the whole thing
“Good heavens what you Yankees will do!”
Take me with you
Take me with you
She could outshoot any man
She showed that a woman can
Annie never missed her mark
That buffalo gal sure had the spark
Miss Annie Oakley real straight shooter
Miss Annie Oakley, Yahoo
Miss Annie Oakley real straight shooter
Miss Annie Oakley, Yahoo
She could outshoot any man
She showed that a woman can
Annie never missed her mark
That buffalo gal sure had the spark
Take me with you
Take me with you
Buffalo Bill put on a good show
Way back when before VCRs
In the eighteen eighties and nineties
Annie was the first superstar
Chief Sitting Bull loved Little Sure Shot
And he made her one of the Sioux
Queen Victoria, she saw the whole thing
“Good heavens what you Yankees will do!”
Take me with you
Take me with you
She could outshoot any man
She showed that a woman can
Annie never missed her mark
That buffalo gal sure had the spark
You Will Never Know
He always dreamed of being a cowboy
Ridin’ trails west into the sun
Findin’ himself a good strong pony
A second hand saddle, maybe a gun
Find him a home with pine trees by a river
Take time alone, time to consider what’s in store
He always knew he had it in him
To be something more that a carpenter’s son
No matter how hard he tried he realized
It’s hard to undo what’s already been done
You gotta’ know that time won’t wait forever
Give it a go. If don’t than you will never know
BRIDGE
Life is all we have to live
A balance between take and give
Some are led, and some are driven
But it’s what you do with what you’re given
Now you may be wondering what happened
To that young cowboy in the song
Did he find paradise a’ waiting
Or was it a dream that all went wrong
Well he found him a home, with pine trees by a river
Spent time alone, and he realized there was something
more
So he went back to see his father
A man that he always thought he knew
And after a few days spent together
He found out those words he’d heard were true
He always dreamed of being a cowboy
Ridin’ trails west into the sun
Findin’ himself a good strong pony
A second hand saddle, maybe a gun
Find him a home with pine trees by a river
Take time alone, time to consider what’s in store
He always knew he had it in him
To be something more that a carpenter’s son
No matter how hard he tried he realized
It’s hard to undo what’s already been done
You gotta’ know that time won’t wait forever
Give it a go. If don’t than you will never know
BRIDGE
Life is all we have to live
A balance between take and give
Some are led, and some are driven
But it’s what you do with what you’re given
Now you may be wondering what happened
To that young cowboy in the song
Did he find paradise a’ waiting
Or was it a dream that all went wrong
Well he found him a home, with pine trees by a river
Spent time alone, and he realized there was something
more
So he went back to see his father
A man that he always thought he knew
And after a few days spent together
He found out those words he’d heard were true
Trails Plowed Under
Trails plowed under
Buffalo gone
Yet once they thundered
60 million strong
Bleached bones and carcasses
Scatter the plains
What is left standing
Is all that remains
Driving forever
Interstate roar
Heading for home
But it ain’t there no more
Seen a lot of good men go down
Buffalo gals
Skeletons are dancing
In the ghost corrals
Trails paved over
Lost in the sprawl
Confiscated, inundated
Sunk beneath the mall
Treeforts and swimming holes
Places to play
rewind your video
While they haul it away
Silence and starry nights
Lost in our headlights
Don’t give it away
We’re in the danger zone
Planet paved over
Plowed under and wired
So many lifetimes
No wonder you’re tired
Seen a lot of worlds dissolve
Mutate and go on
Until other voices
Pick up the song
Trails plowed under
Buffalo gone
Yet once they thundered
60 million strong
Bleached bones and carcasses
Scatter the plains
What is left standing
Is all that remains
Driving forever
Interstate roar
Heading for home
But it ain’t there no more
Seen a lot of good men go down
Buffalo gals
Skeletons are dancing
In the ghost corrals
Trails paved over
Lost in the sprawl
Confiscated, inundated
Sunk beneath the mall
Treeforts and swimming holes
Places to play
rewind your video
While they haul it away
Silence and starry nights
Lost in our headlights
Don’t give it away
We’re in the danger zone
Planet paved over
Plowed under and wired
So many lifetimes
No wonder you’re tired
Seen a lot of worlds dissolve
Mutate and go on
Until other voices
Pick up the song
Petrified Wood
Dry riverbed in the desert sun
Waiting for a flashflood and you’re the
one
Be my cloudburst. Let your waters run.
I never want to finish what we’ve begun.
CHORUS
I tried and I tried but it just won’t do
You’re the poison and the antidote too.
I tried and I tried and it’s just no good
Fires of passion burning petrified wood.
Now you’re gone I’m all alone.
I’m missing my joy chromosome.
My doors open, no ones home
I feel like a hollow bone in a catacomb.
CHORUS
We should be gathering delight.
Incandescent friend let’s ignite.
Bounce our signals like a satellite.
Blaze like a shooting star across the
night.
Dry riverbed in the desert sun
Waiting for a flashflood and you’re the
one
Be my cloudburst. Let your waters run.
I never want to finish what we’ve begun.
CHORUS
I tried and I tried but it just won’t do
You’re the poison and the antidote too.
I tried and I tried and it’s just no good
Fires of passion burning petrified wood.
Now you’re gone I’m all alone.
I’m missing my joy chromosome.
My doors open, no ones home
I feel like a hollow bone in a catacomb.
CHORUS
We should be gathering delight.
Incandescent friend let’s ignite.
Bounce our signals like a satellite.
Blaze like a shooting star across the
night.
Anasazi Tattoo
Anasazi ghosts whisper in the shade
Talking about the signs the ancient ones made
Petroglyphs and pictographs are tattoos on her skin
Slick rock sweet desert-varnished skin.
CHORUS
Sun shone on silent stone / sun silent stone
Slick rock sandstone skin/ her tattooed skin
Pinyon junipers the fragrance that she wears
Lightning in the desert flashes turquoise in her hair
Zig zag meanders, the waterhole sign
Snake says shed your skin it’s metamorphous time
CHORUS
Spiral handprints with the shadows blended in
Carved and painted on her desert-varnished skin
Mesas in the clouds, super novas in the stars
Anasazi tattoos in canyons red as Mars
CHORUS
Anasazi ghosts whisper in the shade
Talking about the signs the ancient ones made
Petroglyphs and pictographs are tattoos on her skin
Slick rock sweet desert-varnished skin.
CHORUS
Sun shone on silent stone / sun silent stone
Slick rock sandstone skin/ her tattooed skin
Pinyon junipers the fragrance that she wears
Lightning in the desert flashes turquoise in her hair
Zig zag meanders, the waterhole sign
Snake says shed your skin it’s metamorphous time
CHORUS
Spiral handprints with the shadows blended in
Carved and painted on her desert-varnished skin
Mesas in the clouds, super novas in the stars
Anasazi tattoos in canyons red as Mars
CHORUS
Yeti’s Lament
In the trees the humans are singing
Round campfires beneath the stars.
In the hills, in the parks , in the forest
Some even get out of their cars.
Cut the cards and pass the bottle
Stretch your voice around those old songs
Out beyond the firelight
Bigfoot is singing along.
In the pines, the cedars, the canyons
Anywhere the wild begins
Catch a glimpse of me in the moonlight
Out where the pavement ends.
I’m not here and I’m not gone
You’ll find me back of beyond
Across the river and down in the hollow
The path of the Sasquatch is a tough trail to follow.
BRIDGE
There are some things you make take for granted
Like a sunrise or breathing clean air
But if you take time to understand it
You’ll be amazed at what you find out there
Some believe in legends
Dreams and mystery.
Others need facts and figures
Documented history.
Believe whatever you want to
Mermaids, dragons, yeti.
Without us in tow, where will you go?
What’s life without mystery?
In the trees the humans are singing
Round campfires beneath the stars.
In the hills, in the parks , in the forest
Some even get out of their cars.
Cut the cards and pass the bottle
Stretch your voice around those old songs
Out beyond the firelight
Bigfoot is singing along.
In the pines, the cedars, the canyons
Anywhere the wild begins
Catch a glimpse of me in the moonlight
Out where the pavement ends.
I’m not here and I’m not gone
You’ll find me back of beyond
Across the river and down in the hollow
The path of the Sasquatch is a tough trail to follow.
BRIDGE
There are some things you make take for granted
Like a sunrise or breathing clean air
But if you take time to understand it
You’ll be amazed at what you find out there
Some believe in legends
Dreams and mystery.
Others need facts and figures
Documented history.
Believe whatever you want to
Mermaids, dragons, yeti.
Without us in tow, where will you go?
What’s life without mystery?