Album Notes

Political, emotional, spiritual, edgy, hopeful, spirited, inspired, mystical, thought-provoking, a living contradiction, Americana, consisting of styles using shades of country/rock/folk/blues and gospel.

The Mystic Cowboys is an eclectic group of various artists spanning a couple of decades and always led by the tunesmith, Dan Johnson. If you like most of what's playing endlessly on the current radio charts, you'll probably hate this original stuff.

The following are the lyrics for this CD:

***Angels Fly With The Blue Jays
Angels fly with the blue jays and the woodpeckers too
You might not believe that but it’s my point of view
I see ‘em in the swirling leaves and I feel ‘em in the wind
I’m gonna ride with ‘em when my journey’s at its end
My journey’s at its end

Angels fly with the hummingbirds and the finches red and yellow
You might not believe that but I’m a fair-minded fellow
I hear ‘em in the wind chimes talkin’ like they’re friends
I’m gonna ride with ‘em when my journey’s at its end
My journey’s at its end

Angels fly with the winter sparrows scratching in the snow
You might not believe that but it’s something that I know
Blizzard winds are blowin’ hard up around the bend
I’m gonna ride with ‘em when my journey’s at its end
My journey’s at its end

Angels fly with the blue jays and the gray woodpeckers too
You might not believe that but that’s my point of view
That’s my point of view

***Yellow Light
There’s a yellow light
Soft on my eyes
I can trust the warmth
To separate the lies

I can ride the past
Like a friendly horse
I’ll let the wind
Mark my course

I’ll tell you now
I’m ridin’ with that light
I’ll tell you now
I’m ridin’ with that light

There’s a yellow light
Cryin’ behind my eyes
I trust the warmth
To separate the lies

I ride that past
Like a friendly horse
The North wind
Marks my course

I tell you now
I’m ridin’ in that light
I’ll tell you now
I’m ridin’ with that light

***Campfire King
At sundown cowboys gathered ‘round the campfire
He’d play guitar and sing out to the coyotes and the moon
In late June the river was so beautiful and no one knew
He cried to the moon the night before
Furthermore the coyotes were mostly female
And enjoyed the singin’ into the night
And the site of the coyotes on the ridgeline
Warmed the cowboys below
And the coyotes howled low to the singin’ cowboys below
And the campfire king never played a proper song too long
Cowboys sung off key mostly all the time
Didn’t worry about meter or rhyme
They just sang with the campfire king
They sang with the campfire king
They sang out with the campfire king with the coyotes
Mostly female
That’s the end of this tale

***Little Big Horn
I’m tryin’ to recall
If I took a fall
On this old battlefield
I’ve been here before
But I have no final score
From this old battlefield

I’m heavy in the chest
I should be headed west
From this old battlefield
Clouds are dark and low
When they’re bringin’ in the snow
From this old battlefield

There’s a white granite stone
I fear that I may have gone
With my Calvary blue
My years were few
Beyond the greasy grass
I saw my spirit pass
On this old battlefield
Little Big Horn

I’m tryin’ to recall if I took a fall
On this old battlefield

***The Lost Juan
You found your wings
Flyin’ to the ground
Me and those hardhat boys
Just stood around

And you were back in Mexico
Before you hit the dirt
They found a lanyard for your safety harness
Hung it on the back of your shirt

Your brother screamed
He made the sign of the cross
The deputy sheriff
Was talking softly to your boss

You go back to Mexico
Before OSHA closed their eyes
Three children down south
Wonderin’ why their daddy died

We learned your name
After you were gone
You were twenty-eight
And se llamo was Juan

You were back in Mexico
No one, no card of green
No workman’s comp
No American dream

And Chris said one life is too many
And Captain Ron said it’s damn sure plenty
And you were back in Mexico
We’re drinkin’ US beer

Thinkin’ of some words
To put inside of here

You found your wings
Flyin’ to the ground
Me and those hardhat boys
Just stood around

You were back in Mexico
Before you hit the dirt

***Low Nest
She’s sunny and yellow
I’m cloudy and mellow tonight
Everything she says is something
I think nothing is nothing tonight

I don’t know the answer to simple questions
I don’t want to offer suggestions
I’m just flyin’ now from my low nest
On an empty tree

She wants to exercise
While I de-mystify my life
And she’s going off to bed
I’m asleep in my head
That’s my life

I don’t know the answer to simple questions
I don’t want to offer suggestions
I’m just flyin’ now from my low nest
On an empty tree

I don’t know the answer to simple questions
I don’t want to offer suggestions
I’m just flyin’ now from my low nest
On an empty tree

***I Found You
Once I was all alone
Rolling down a rainy road
Then I found you
Then I found you

Took me out of the rain
Dried away my pain
When I found you
When I found you

Now I’m no lucky guy
But the clouds cleared from the sky
When I found you
When I found you

Now I had no room to think
I was drownin’ in my drink
Then I found you
Then I found you

Now I see the stars
You pulled me from them bars
When I found you
When I found you

Now I’m no lucky guy
But the clouds cleared from the sky
When I found you
When I found you

Once I was all alone
I was running down a rainy road
Then I found you
Then I found you

***Undiscovered Friend
When you find your brother hurtin’
Behind his velvet curtain
And you can smell his flowers
In the shade of wind towers

Then you’re ridin in the breeze
You’re cutting in the wind
You’re tryin to learn the name
Of an undiscovered friend

The grease of the machine
It smells like bloody dirt
Mothers never heal
From where their babies hurt
And papas just don’t cry
Unless they’re full of juice
And you’ve been running mean now
Straight to the hangman’s noose

And you’re ridin’ in the breeze
You’re cutting in the wind
You’re tryin to learn the name
Of an undiscovered friend

You’re ridin’ in the breeze
You’re cutting in the wind
You’re tryin to learn the name
Of an undiscovered friend

***Blacksmith’s Heart
It’s beating strong
Feeling fine
It’s comin’ on long
Down the line
Blacksmith’s heart
From the start
It’s beatin’ overtime
It’s beatin’ overtime

Dims my eyes
Makes them blur
Give my goodbyes forever to her
Blacksmith’s heart
From the start
There’s no cure
There ain’t no cure

Send my soul
From whence it came
Lost control of my good name
Blacksmith heart
From the start
Always game
Always game

My blind heart
Now can see
Can’t restart what’s meant to be
Blacksmith’s heart
From the start
It’s what’s meant to be
It’s what’s meant to be

It’s beating strong
It’s feeling fine
It’s comin’ on along
Down the line
Blacksmith’s heart
From the start
It’s beatin’ overtime
Beatin’ overtime

***Those Mountains
Behold those mountains in the distance
Fingers of stone touch the sky
Open up the color inside of your memories
Shows the desperation in your eyes

Behold those mountains in the distance
Your descent is as sure as the fallen stone
Taste the truth it smells like pine trees
And remember no one dies alone

Behold those mountains in the distance
Passes filled with ice and snow
Warm springs will someday journey over
To carry you beyond things you know

Behold those mountains in the distance
They stand like you to prove they are
Your stay here is just a disguise
You’re a dream from a distant star
You’re a dream from a distant star

Behold those mountains in the distance
Behold them mountains in the distance
Behold them mountains in the distance

***Rainin’ in the Heart
You don’t seem to know what side of the road you’re walkin’ on
I like to listen to a good bullshitter so please carry on
Is it rainin’ in your heart
Is it rainin’ in your heart
Sometimes we all fall apart
Especially when it’s rainin’ in your heart

Can’t change the future cryin’ about the past
The day you figure life out, man might be your last
Is it rainin’ in your heart
Is it rainin’ in your heart
Sometimes we all fall apart
Well especially when it’s rainin’ in your heart

I still talk in nursery rhymes
I’m a weatherman all the time
Is it rainin’ in your heart
Is it rainin’ in your heart
Sometimes we all fall apart
Especially when it’s rainin’ in your heart

Is it rainin’ in your heart

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