It's morning, and I just produced a tune. I'll send the MIDI to Joe, so you can hear it. Actually, I'll send two MIDI's to Joe, one in G for high voices and one in E for lower.

I've modified the words. I felt the poem was too long, and also, the 'voice' wasn't quite right. Sometimes the narrator sounds like a simple cowpoke, sometimes like an arty type. I tried to handle that better. Now it has three verses.

When I type music, I use the hyphens to show how to sing it. Thus, while most people would type "strag-glers," I type "stragg-lers."

Here are the lyrics to go with the tune - when it shows up.

Clou-dy sun on cool-in' morn,
squea-kin' chaps and spurs a-rat-tle.
Loun-gin' 'cross my sad-dle horn,
trai-lin' dull-eyed baw-lin' cat-tle.
Cho-kin' dust clouds in the air,
Off a-cross the range a-drif-tin'.
Pun-chers cus-sin' stragg-lers there
as the morn-in' mist is lif-tin'.

Wild-eyed mav-ricks on the prod,
plun-gin' po-nies, buc-kin', snor-tin',
all a-cross the sun-baked sod,
full o' gin-ger, all ca-vor-tin'.
Sum-mer day a-grow-in' old
as the crim-son sun is sin-kin'.
Ri-ver spar-klin' just like gold
where the thir-sty herd is drin-kin'.

Camp fire twink-lin' down be-low,
ri-ver sort o' lul-la-by-in'
to the sleep-ers soft and low
on their blan-ket beds a-ly-in'.
Me, a-drow-sin' off to rest
with the star-ry sky a-bove me.
Thoughts of you are in my breast,
dream-in', dream-in' that you love me.

Click to play (joeweb) (in the Key of E)

Click to play (joeweb) (in the Key of G)