Lyr/Chords Req: Long Road West (Don Edwards)

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Long Road West (Don Edwards)
From: open mike
Date: 15 Dec 09 - 01:47 PM

in 1920 the travelling the cowboys were doing was probably mostly along the cattle driving trails...always on the move during the
cattle drive season...

Don Edwards is a wonderful performer and he is a great example of
"the cowboy way" http://www.donedwardsmusic.com/
here he is singing a song by Jack Thorpe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPLXOf_fMtg

(yours truly was the videographer here!!)

meanwhile here is the definition of another word in the song.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holystone

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Long Road West (Don Edwards)
From: GUEST,999
Date: 14 Dec 09 - 07:50 PM

Sound sample for a stanza here.

Straight-forward chords.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LONG ROAD WEST (Don Edwards)
From: GUEST,999
Date: 14 Dec 09 - 07:41 PM

THE LONG ROAD WEST

Once I heard a Hobo, singing by the tie-trail,
    Squatting by the red rail rusty with the dew:
Singing of the firelight, singing of the high-trail
    Singing to the morning as the dawn broke through:

"Saddle, rail, or pack-sack—any way you take it:
    Choose a pal and try him, but on your own is best.
Sand, clay, or cinders—any way to make it,
    Looking for To-morrow down the long road West."

Far across the ranges, over where the sea swings,
    Battering the raw ledge, booming up the sand:
There I heard a sailor telling what the sea sings,
    Sings to every sailor when he longs for land:

"When you've saved your cash and when you've done your hitch, sir;
    —Holystone and hardtack, buckle to the test—
When you're back in port and your feet begin to itch, sir,
    Think about To-morrow and the long road West."

Slowly came a cowboy riding round the night-herd;
    Silver was the starlight, slender was the moon:
Then I heard him singing, lonely as a night-bird,
    Pony's head a-nodding to the queer old tune:

"Wind, rain, sunshine—every kind of weather:
    Sweating on the mesa, freezing on the crest:
Me and just my shadow, jogging on together,
    Jogging on together down the long road West."

Lazy was the cool stream slipping through the far light
    Shadowing the buckthorn high along the hill,
When I heard a bird sing softly in the starlight,
    Singing in the evening when the trees were still:

"Valley, range, and high trail, mesa, butte and river:
    Sun across the lowlands, rolling down to rest:
There'll always be a skyline, running on forever,
    Running on forever, down the long road West."

Henry Herbert Knibbs, from Songs of the Trail, 1920


That's from

http://www.cowboypoetry.com/knibbs.htm


Found thanks to Jim's transcription.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Long Road West (Don Edwards)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 14 Dec 09 - 11:19 AM

Here's what I was able to transcribe from a sample:


THE LONG ROAD WEST (excerpt)
Don Edwards, Henry Herbert Knibbs

....that long road west.
Now far across the ranges, over where the sea swings,
Battering the ...(?), boomin' up the sand,
There I heard a sailor tellin' what the sea sings.
It sings to every sailor as he longs for the land....

[From Don Edwards' album "Saddle Songs" (1997)

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Long Road West
From: Sarah2
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 09:17 PM

Shack, along with MMario, I don't know the song; would you post the lyrics here and give us a chance to view them? A long road can be a lot of things: life, death...

Sarah

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Long Road West
From: MMario
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 04:53 PM

I searched for these lyrics but dind't find them. My first inclination would be that the "long road west" would be death - but it's hard to say without seeing the lyrics.

Subject: Long Road West
From: GUEST,dan evergreen
Date: 15 Jan 01 - 04:51 PM

I am beginning to think this may be the very best song on Don Edwards's double CD, "Saddle Songs." But I haven't learned it yet and I don't really understand it. What is the long road that the author is talking about; it seems more than the old one about going west, young man. And it has a certain air of futility about it. Any insight on this song I would appreciate.