This was posted elsewhere, but I think it should be included here.
-Joe Offer-

---

Posted By: GUEST,Verde Picker
05-Nov-06 - 08:14 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: Desert Silvery Blue / Roundup Lullaby
Subject: Lyr Add: ROUNDUP LULLABY (Badger Clark)

Here's all of it.


ROUNDUP LULLABY
(Charles Badger Clark, Jr.)

Desert blue and silver in the still moonshine,
Coyote yappin' lazy on the hill,
Sleepy winks of lightnin' down the far sky line,
Time for millin' cattle to be still.
    So—o, now, the lightnin's far away,
    The coyote's nothin' skeery;
    He's singin' to his dearie—
    Hee—ya, tammalalleday!
    Settle down, you cattle, till the mornin'.

Nothin' out the hazy range that you folks need,
Nothin' we kin see to take your eye.
Yet we got to watch you or you'd all stampede,
Plungin' down some 'royo bank to die.
    So—o, now, for still the shadows stay;
    The moon is slow and steady;
    The sun comes when he's ready.
    Hee—ya, tammalalleday!
    No use runnin' out to meet the mornin'.

Cows and men are foolish when the light grows dim,
Dreamin' of a land too far to see.
There, you dream, is wavin' grass and streams that brim
And it often seems the same to me.
    So—o, now, for dreams they never pay.
    The dust it keeps us blinkin',
    We're seven miles from drinkin'.
    Hee—ya, tammalalleday!
    But we got to stand it till the mornin'.

Mostly it's a moonlight world our trail winds through.
Kain't see much beyond our saddle horns.
Always far away is misty silver-blue;
Always underfoot it's rocks and thorns.
    So—o, now. It must be this away—
    The lonesome owl a-callin',
    The mournful coyote squallin'.
    Hee—ya, tammalalleday!
    Mocking-birds don't sing until the mornin'.

Always seein' 'wayoff dreams of silver-blue,
Always feelin' thorns that stab and sting.
Yet stampedin' never made a dream come true,
So I ride around myself and sing,
    So—o, now, a man has got to stay,
    A-likin' or a-hatin',
    But workin' on and waitin'.
    Hee—ya, tammalalleday!
    All of us are waitin' for the mornin'.

---

Note from Joe Offer: This is an exact transcription of the poem "Roundup Lullaby" from the 1922 edition of Badger Clark's Sun and Saddle Leather, available at Google Books.

---

You can hear recordings to a number of different melodies at chefjuke.com. The Bing Crosby recording is attributed to Billy Rose and Badger Clark - Crosby sings the first two verses of the poem, with a tune different from the one usually associated with this piece.