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The Ballad of Jed & Elly
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Traditional acoustic country song with a tale about the opening up of The West by a couple of the early pioneers.
songwriter
Humble Country Songwriter.
Just a humble songwriter. First and foremost, a Tune-smith, I suppose. Yes, somehow, melodies just pop into my head, from, like, nowhere, man! Of course, to turn a melody into an actual song, it has to have a set of lyrics - but lyric-writing, for me, is more like "work". Contrast that with composing a melody - man, its such a buzz when you think you've come up with a half-decent new tune.
Song Info
Genre
Country • Country and Western
Charts
#432 in subgenre Peak #16
Charts
Peak #201
Author
Jonathan Rowland
Rights
Jonathan Rowland
Uploaded
July 11, 2006
Track Files
MP3
MP3 4.7 MB • 128 kbps • 5:08
Story behind the song
The tune for this song came to me as a boy of just 11 or 12. The lyrics were composed (in near darkness) between 4 and 5 am - when I was keeping nightwatch on my poor father on his sickbed. My dad knew so much about the history of The West and the early pioneers, there was always a book lying around the house. I'd been reading one of them off and on throughout the day and, in the middle of the night, when I came to write those lyrics, the words came as fast as I could physically write. Whilst Jed & Elly are obviously fictional characters, their story epitomizes the spirit of the American West ... and that spirit still lives on today.
Lyrics
The Ballad of Jed & Elly Night falls on the frontier, the fire lights your face The night brings its own eerie sound Who knows the history of this awful wide space Just you, me and a stake in the ground What brought us out here, what pushes us on? We sure didn’t have much left to lose But if somebody out there ever hears this old song Please leave us to live as we choose Chorus Can’t somebody help them, are they destined to die From the fever, the thirst, or the Sioux? Lord show some mercy, let them somehow survive From the many, please spare just a few We’ll push on in the mornin’, find a stream up ahead We’ve GOT to, we’ve made it this far I know you’re so weak, now, but my darlin’ young Jed Take strength from your wanderin’ star The fire in your gut now and the strength in your heart The passion, the love and the pride One mighty wide frontier, one dusty old cart Let’s face it, there’s nowhere to hide Chorus The dawn took forever, the sun’s risen high The dust fills the hot desert air One last push to the valley but the stream’s long run dry We fall to our knees in despair Just what brought us out here and what pushed us on? We sure didn’t have much left to lose But if somebody out there ever hears this old song Please leave us to die as we please Chorus Well as the night fell in the valley it just weren’t quite the same As it had been for year after year No side streets or alleys, so I still can’t explain Why we turned off the freeway right there Kneel down by these boulders, look up to the sky Been tryin’ to get out for so long With The West on their shoulders they were destined to die But tonight they’ve just left us their song ……
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