The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #102943   Message #2097069
Posted By: Rog Peek
08-Jul-07 - 01:09 PM
Thread Name: Songs for/about Phil Ochs
Subject: Lyr Add: CHICKASAW MOUNTAIN (Leslie Fish)
CHICKASAW MOUNTAIN
(Leslie Fish)

High up on the mountain of Chickasaw, they say,
There's one patch of darkness that never yields to day;
Deep are those shadows, old as the mountain,
Something is waiting in there; call on her if you dare!
Seek no level of God or devil; she's something older by far,
Call her "Lady Of the Morning Star".

She offers two bargains. The price is steep and dark;
The one takes your life, and the other leaves a mark.
If there's a third one, I've never heard one,
Choose for yourself, what's the fee? Nothing she gives is free!
Name your goal, she won't ask your soul, she might even give you her own
And maybe you'd be better off alone!

My old fellow rebel: I know what deal he made;
The Power rang through every song he wrote and played;
Made him the best of his generation,
Sang to the end of the War--and not a moment more.
Then it left him. The Power bereft him, left him but one fate to see
Hanging on his sister's apple tree.

Forgive my old buddy, who soon forgot my name;
I chose not to follow his seven years of fame.
He took the high road, I take the low road,
Sing second place, but sing long, and have always one more song!
Take your stars and give me my scars, I'd rather live long and be free
So take his cup the hell away from me!

Whoever has wisdom can guess what lies unsaid
The cost of the Gift to the living and the dead;
Still, if you feel you'll gain by the deal,
You'll play with the old Morning Star--no need to travel far.
Don't just count on Chickasaw Mountain if there's a Deal meant for you
Any wild place on Earth will do.

Notes:
Featured on the album of the same name 'Chickasaw Mountain' (Off Centaur Publications OCP-56) released in 1986. Also appears again on 'Avalon Is Risen' (Prometheus Music B008DFFTRS.) released June 2012.
RP jul07