July 15th, 2010

This song is featured at the end of the Documentary “Grizzly Man” that is based on the life of Timothy Treadwell. For those who don’t know him – Read below. The words were penned by Bob McDill and was sung by Don Edwards. This is my humble tribute to the wilderness that’s ever more in danger with human invasion, to the free spirit of the wild, and to Timmy Treadwell (I changed the last line of the song to include his name).

Words:

Was a cowboy I knew in south Texas,
His face was burnt deep by the sun,
Part history, part sage, part mesquit,
He was there when Poncho Villa was young.
And he’d tell you a tale of the old days,
When the country was wild all around,
Sit out under the stars of the Milky Way,
And listen while the coyotes howl.

And they go… hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoodi hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoo di hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo

Now the long horns are gone And the drovers are gone,
The Comanches are gone, And the outlaws are gone,
Geronimo is gone, And Sam Bass is gone,
And the lion is gone, And the red wolf is gone.

Well he cursed all the roads and the oil men,
And he cursed the automobile,
Said this is no place for an hombre like I am,
In this new world of asphalt and steel.
Then he’d look off some place in the distance,
At something only he could see,
He’d say all that’s left now of the old days,
Those damned old coyotes and me.

And they go hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoodi hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoo di hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo

Now the long horns are gone, And the drovers are gone
The Comanches are gone And the outlaws are gone,
Now Quantro is gone, Stan Watie is gone,
And lion is gone, And the red wolf is gone.

One morning they searched his adobe,
He disappeared without even a word,
But that night as the moon crossed the mountain,
One more coyote was heard.

And he’d go, hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoodi hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoo di hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo

Now the long horns are gone, And the drovers are gone
The Comanches are gone And the outlaws are gone,
Now Quantro is gone, Stan Watie is gone,
And the red wolf is gone – And “Treadwell” is gone…

Notes:
1.) Timothy Treadwell (April 29, 1957 – October 5, 2003) was an American bear enthusiast, environmentalist, amateur naturalist, eco-warrior and documentary film maker. He lived among the coastal grizzly bears of Katmai National Park in Alaska, USA, for approximately 13 seasons. At the end of his 13th season in the park in 2003, he and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard were killed and eaten by a brown bear. Treadwell’s life, work and death were the subject of the 2005 documentary film by Werner Herzog titled Grizzly Man. (Wikipedia)

2.) Drovers in this case refers to the cowboys who drove the cattle across the prairies to the rail heads.
3.) Sam Bass: Outlaw in the old west
4.) Stan Watie: American Indian, Civil War Confederate
5.) Quantro: Fighters during American Civil War

Popularity: 7%

• This entry was posted on Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 6:00 pm and is filed under Music, Video.
• Comments(2) | Viewed 260 times
  Popularity: 7% as compared to other posts on this site.