HIGH LONESOME

Verse #1:

Up into the high lonesome country
Of the great American West;
That's where this city cowboy
Can set his mind at rest.
Down here in civilization,
Everything I do is wrong.
My heart is always broken.
Can't you hear it in my song?

Brief sound of Indian tom-toms:

Alone and lost in these mountains,
I will sing with the wind.
I can be happy.
I can have freedom
And live again.
Music of these mountains
Soothes my pain for a while.
I am one with God and nature,
And we smile!

Verse #2:

Up into the high lonesome country
Where tumbleweeds roll,
The wind is always moving,
As it whispers to your soul:
"Cowboy, keep on riding
Across this sacred land.
Legends live forever
You can understand!"

Brief sound of Indian tom-toms:

Ride to the high lonesome.
You will find you have a friend.
There is music all around you
On the wind.
From the dust of by-gone ages,
Ancient voices cry aloud,
"Cowboy, ride the high and lonesome,
And be proud!"

Verse #3:

Up into the high lonesome country,
Where still, the outlaws roam;
Drums of ancient warriors
Pound from their tribal home.
This land is just as savage
As it was so long ago.
In this high lonesome country,
There's still some buffalo.

Brief sound of Indian tom-toms:

Like the ones who went before you,
Go and seek wilderness.
You must break free
And find yourself some happiness.
Challenge the high lonesome
In the modern Wild West
Where the music of these mountains
Is still the best!

Yodeling, followed by guitar strumming
and rapid drumming, climaxed by loud
Indian war shriek.

Words and Music: ©Copyright January 20, 1998 by John Robert Mallernee

Author’s Note: Written whilst in Saint Anthony, Idaho