Jacqui,

If you notice on Peace' map linked above, El Paso sits right on the "boot heel" of New Mexico, right on the border of the US and Mexico, barely in the state of Texas. (In fact, El Paso in the Mountain time zone, the rest of Texas is in the Central time zone.) In the song, the singer is musing about a previous life in El Paso as he flies above the badlands of New Mexico in a plane at 30,000 feet. Whether he was flying east or west that part of New Mexico is among the most barren of all the state. The lyrics would really make sense if he were flying east, as that part of the state resembles a moonscape in various places. There are some imposing mountain ranges, but in the area surrounding El Paso they are desert mountains with very little vegetation on them. Anything in the southern half of New Mexico is mostly barren land. The towns are generally small, and greatly separated. East of the Rio Grande and continuing into west Texas there is nothing much but oil development. As you move west of the Rio Grande there is a little more farming and ranching, but not much. As you move north from Albuquerque the climate changes dramatically and there is more vegetation, the mountains are heavily forested, and in the eastern plains there is quite a bit of farming and ranching. West of Albuquerque as you head into the desert that spans from New Mexico on into Arizona there is also very little development.

The Bisti badlands, the second link above, are in the northwest part of the state located on the Navajo Indian Nation. This part of the state truly does resemble a moonscape, as there is far less oil development (in the badlands itself) and virtually no vegetation or animal life. (I am sure there is some native animal life, but the land is extremely alkali). It is doubtful that the singer had this area in mind as the area is much smaller, and from 30,000 feet your eyes would be drawn to the beautiful mountain ranges just to the east and to the north of the Bisti badlands. The Bisti badlands have a beauty all of their own, and from there you can relatively quickly get to the 4 corners (the only place in the contiguous United States where four states share a common corner) and the painted desert, and further west into Arizona there are some gorgeous natural rock formations, and, of course, the Grand Canyon.

I don't mean to diss southern New Mexico, but I was born in Santa Fe and I am a real mountain goat. I fly over New Mexico extensively and I am constantly amazed at the beauty beneath me in all parts of the state (the lyrics of aforementioned song notwithstanding.)

A very proud native born New Mexican -

Freightdawg