Texas State Anthem
Words: Kenny Hall
Music: “I’ll Twine Mid the Ringlets,” J.P. Webster, 1860
Oh, it’s Texas for me just as quick as can be
Where the air is so pure and the life is so free.
From Austin to Mule Shoe and down through Marble Falls
You’re still in dear ole Texas, the best state of all.
You can have any climate in Texas you choose.
Some counties are dry and some counties have booze.
Come all you weary travelers, all those who look for rest,
Come to the state of Texas, the haven of the West.
On the west Texas desert El Paso is king,
Where the bar room with juke box and beer glasses ring,
Where the big cattle buyer makes all kinds a’ dough,
You’ll find that in Texas most anywhere you go.
I had almost forgotten to mention Marble Falls,
Where the fishing is good and the whip-o-will calls,
Where the cattle and cotton and broom-corn will grow,
You’ll soon be shoutin’ Texas from your head to your toe.
Ti E Ti O (The Round-Up in Cheyenne)
Gene Autry & Smiley Burnett
For years we had rode on the prairie
Workin’ on this ranch and that.
We both loved the smell of the cactus
And the heat never bothered at all.
At last it was time to be packin’,
To make the long trip to Cheyenne.
Each year we would always look forward
To pick out the best ridin’ man.
Chorus
Ti e ti o
Watch the little doggies all day.
Ti e ti o
Watch the little fellers at play.
The bleachers were lined up with people
To see all the boys do their stuff.
The one that I rode was a picker
My partner rode one that was tough.
He threw him sky high from the saddle
He came down and lit on his side.
He never got up from that corral
With his boots on my partner had died.
Chorus
And now I’m alone on the prairie
And teardrops are falling in vain.
I miss him a lot since he’s gone on
His memory is all that remains.
Chorus
The Copper and the Gunman
Clarence Gaskill
The copper and the gunman are enemies today.
The gunman shows no mercy as he falls upon his prey,
And with his smokin’ pistol that fires a shot of lead,
He flees and leaves his victim lying on the pavement dead.
The copper then pursues him and as he starts to avenge,
He is shot upon the spot, he never had a chance.
The gunman has a sweetheart, who loves him tenderly.
The copper has a good wife and a little family.
The poor boy then is captured, for justice always wins.
The loved ones that he leaves behind must suffer for his sins.
So let this be a lesson to some poor wayward lad,
It’s just the company that he keeps that makes him be so bad.
And pray to God in heaven, who always gives us leave,
That someday he’ll be half the man his mother thought he’d be.
From Kenny Hall who learned it from a Modoc Indian friend and co-worker that he knew in the broom factory in Oakland, California.
Every Bush And Tree
Otis Pierce
I was born in old Missouri.
My family they were poor.
My mother’s name was Laura.
And my daddy’s name was Joe.
‘Till sickness overtook her
And the angels called her away,
She called me close to her bedside
These dying words she did say.
Son the angels have called me
Up in heaven I must go.
I pray I’ll meet you boy
Up on that golden shore.
It was in the hour of parting
My heart is troubled so.
I can go and live with my mother
Where parting shall be no more.
Chorus
I hear a soft wind sweeping
Thru every bush and tree
Where I know my mother’s sure waiting
In her heavenly home for me.
So my Daddy moved back to North Fork
And left us there all alone.
The sheriff picked us up one evening
And he sent us to an orphan home.
Chorus