Lyr Req: Ballad of a Runaway Horse (Emmylou Harris

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of a Runaway Horse (Emmylou Harris
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 23 May 13 - 11:42 AM

Folks who like this song might find Jennifer Warnes' comments of interest. Not that it matters much, but I think that Jennifer Warnes may have recorded this before Emmylou.

Jennifer

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of a Runaway Horse (Emmylou Harris
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 May 13 - 03:04 PM

Lyrics to Leonard Cohen's version of the song have been posted in another thread here: BALLAD OF THE ABSENT MARE.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of a Runaway Horse (Emmylou Harris
From: GUEST
Date: 22 May 13 - 01:32 PM

Chords at

http://www.cowboylyrics.com/tabs/harris-emmylou/ballad-of-a-runaway-horse-5869.html

Subject: Lyr Req: BALLAD OF A RUNAWAY HORSE (Emmylou Harris
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 May 13 - 01:23 PM

BALLAD OF A RUNAWAY HORSE
Written by Leonard Cohen as "Ballad of the Absent Mare," adapted by Emmylou Harris
As sung by Emmylou Harris on "Cowgirl's Prayer" and "Songbird: Rare Tracks & Forgotten Gems"

1. Say a prayer for the cowgirl; her horse ran away.
She'll walk till she finds him, her darlin', her stray,
But the river's in flood and the roads are awash,
And the bridges break up in the panic of loss.

2. And there's nothin' to follow, nowhere to go.
He's gone like the summer, gone like the snow,
And the crickets are breaking her heart with their song
As the day caves in, and the night is all wrong.

3. Did she dream? Was it he who went galloping past,
And bent down the fern, broke open the grass,
And printed the mud with the well-hammered shoe
That she nailed to his feet in the dreams of her youth?

4. And although he goes grazin' a minute away,
She tracks him all night; she tracks him all day,
And she's blind to his presence except to compare
Her injury here with his punishment there.

5. Then at home on a branch, on a highest tree,
A songbird sings out so suddenly,
And the sun is warm, and the soft winds ride,
On a willow tree by the riverside.

6. Ah, the world is sweet, and the world is wide.
He's there where the light and the darkness divide,
And the steam's comin' off him; he's huge and he's shy,
And he steps on the moon when he paws at the sky.

7. And he comes to her hand but he's not really tame,
He longs to be lost; she longs for the same,
And he'll bolt and he'll plunge through the first open pass,
To roll and to feed in the sweet mountain grass.

8. Or he'll make a break for the high plateau,
Where there's nothing above, and nothing below.
It's time for their burden: the whip and the spur.
Will she ride with him, or will he ride with her?

9. So she binds herself to her galloping steed,
And he binds himself to the woman in need,
And there is no space, just left and right,
And there is no time but there is day and night.

10. Then she leans on his neck and whispers low:
"Whither thou goest, I will go,"
And they turn as one, and they head for the plain,
No need for the whip, oh, no need for the rein.

11. Now the clasp of this union, who fastens it tight?
Who snaps it asunder the very next night?
Some say it's him; some say it's her.
Some say love's like smoke, beyond all repair.

12. So my darlin', my darlin', just let it go by,
That old silhouette on the great western sky,
And I'll pick out a tune and they'll move right along,
And they're gone like smoke and they're gone like this song.

Say a prayer for the cowgirl.

[Also sung, with the same title, by Juni Fisher on "Cowgirlography," and by Jennifer Warnes on "Famous Blue Raincoat."]

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Ballad of a Runaway Horse (Harris)
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Oct 11 - 10:05 PM

I'm only about 11 years late here, but the original Cohen poem can be found in his book, Stranger Music. The poem is ostensibly about a man and a horse, but some say it is allegorical and is about a man and a woman. Emmylou's song adaptation could be interpreted the same way, and taken either way, is a beautiful tone poem:

"Some say it's him,
some say it's her.
Some say, 'Love is like smoke,
beyond all repair'".

Haunting.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Ballad of a lost horse
From: Stewie
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 06:59 PM

The following may be of interest:

The album [Recent Songs] became an anchor for Cohen during a trouble time. It was dedicated to 'Irving Layton, incomparable master of the Inner language'. He also thanked the late Robert Hershorn and Nancy Bascal but his most significant acknowledgement was to his Zen master: 'I owe my thanks to Joshu Sasaki upon whose exposition of an early Chinese text I based "Ballad of The Absent Mare"'. The reference to Roshi indicated how Cohen was incorporating Zen material into his work. The early text he referred to was the 'Ten Ox-Herding Pictures'. At one time Cohen and Roshi worked on a translation of these texts, originally a twelfth-century set of pictures and commentary by Kakuan, a Chinese master. Traditionally the ten bulls are ten images that represent the ten steps in the spiritual unfolding of the self. Both the song and the story emphasise a search 'in the pasture of this world' for the reunification of the true self expressed through capturing and taming of the bull. In the last two verses of 'The Absent Mare', the singer unites with the horse, unconsciously joining the narrator of the 'Ten Ox-Herding Pictures' to realise there can be no separation between object and subject. He suddenly recognises the 'forms of integration and disintegration' as one, and simultaneously sees 'that which is creating and that which is destroying'. [Ira B. Nadel 'Various Positions: A Life of Leonard Cohen' Bloomsbury Publishing 1996, pp 225-226]

Nadel's book, which bears the note 'This biography is "benignly tolerated" by Leonard Cohen, is a great read for anyone interested in the man and his work.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Ballad of a lost horse
From: GUEST,Paddy(1)
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 01:56 PM

Just trying a clicky thing to L Cohen's "Ballad of the Absent Mare"

Click Here

Paddy(1)

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Ballad of a lost horse
From: GUEST,Paddy(1)
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 01:45 PM

Dan, it is on the Leonard Cohen LP called "Recent Songs"

Not sure about the background, but both versions are equally effective.

Paddy(1)

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Ballad of a lost horse
From: Peter T.
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 01:01 PM

It is actually a Leonard Cohen song about a wandering mare, that she adapted (changed the sex). You are right about how great it is. You should be able to find it at a Leonard Cohen site (I have no URL to help, sorry). yours, Peter T.

Subject: Ballad of a lost horse
From: GUEST,Dan Evergreen
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 11:45 AM

This is probably a modern song but it is really gorgeous. It is on a recent Emmy Lou Harris album. In addition to the words and chords, I would like any more info anyone might have about this song. Thanks for the help. By the way, you've got to hear this song. Talk about haunting; this one rewrote the book.