STEEL WOOL Band

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THIS COWBOY’S HEART Tim Mueller 1985

I used to ride a wild horse, when I was very small
I used to sing for hours, riding straight and tall
I could see the sagebrush blowin’ on the windswept desert plain
Though I lived in green Wisconsin, and came in from the rain
When you’re small the world is endless and all within your reach
You wear the hat, and you become the person of your dreams

Though my horse was made of wood, and I was only 5
I shot a million bad guys, as I rode across the skies
On Sunday nights my friends came in, I watched them on their show
Papa Ben and Adam, Hoss and Little Joe
Oh, they lived for real the life I dreamed and knew I’d have someday
a ranch, some cows, big sunny skies, and a horse to ride away

But the Ponderosa’s gone and my dreams have all moved on
Still the memory lingers on... in This Cowboy’s Heart....

The workin’ life, the city lights, I got to pull my share
As I search for understanding from a brown-eyed girl somewhere
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a happy man, my life’s not so bad
Most of the things I’ve wanted are right here in my hand
But the dreams that shape our early years never really die
They come to us on sleepless nights, twinklin’ in the sky

Oh, the Ponderosa’s gone and my dreams have all moved on
But the memory lingers on... in This Cowboy’s Heart....

The Story:

Yippee! Put those boots on!

I grew up in the '50s, when TV was small and black & white, when my mind was filled with the Lone Ranger and Tonto, and Roy Rogers, and later, the Cartwrights on their Ponderosa. My family would get together on Sunday night and watch Disney's "the Wonderful World of Color". After that came "Bonanza", filmed in the "West", with horses and pistols and stuff.

Oh, yea, I had the stuff - chaps, double 6 guns, the hat - and a perfectly sized hobby horse on springs. I would rock back and forth for hours, singing who knows what. I would pitch a fit when my Mom said I couldn't wear my chaps to school.

Get a costume, wear the hat. What was your thing as a kid?

The spoken word section at the end of the song is a quote from "Bonanza", spoken by Erik "Hoss" Cartwright, the big guy with a soft heart. (The Courtship #2.16 1961). Here it is again:
"I reckon the Ponderosa holds about as much claim on us as we do to her. It's more like a partnership. Like we're all sort of beholdin' to one another. What I mean to say is that Pa won't let us cut down a tree unless there's another tree growin' to take its place, or take a cup of water outta the lake if it makes the lake go down too much. The Ponderosa's got a mighty lot to give. Like Pa says, we ain't to take one ounce out of her that she can't grow back." 

  

 

Yeeha!

Special Thanks to Hank Shreve on the harmonica.
Can you feel the campfire?


STEEL WOOL Band
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GreyWolf Projects, LLC. 2096 1/2 Arthur St. Eugene, OR 97405 
gwproj@pacinfo.com / Tim Mueller 541 521 7208

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