Another tune Jimmie Rodgers did, a somewhat wierd little song called "Desert Blues", has somewhat odd lyrics:

Out on the wind-swept desert where nature favors no man
The buffalo found his brother at rest on the sun-baked sand
He says "Brother, what ails you? Has sickness got you this way?"
But his brother never said, 'cause his brother was dead, been dead since way last May.

Yes, big chief Buffalo Nickel, a mighty man in his day
Never once used a sickle to clear the bushes away
He'd go 'round from tent to tent and eat everything in sight
He loved him a squaw, every one that he saw, he loved a new one every night.

Last night on the wind-swept desert I heard a big Indian moan
I left my tent, I knew what it meant, and I knew I'd never more roam
It was gone when I made St. Fe, my legs were certainly sore
I'd lost fifty pounds on that hot desert ground and I'd lose that many more.

I've always wondered what hearing an Indian moan was supposed to mean and is St. Fe supposed to be Santa Fe shortened to fit the lyrical rhythm?

SC