Cool Water/ Sons Of the Pioneers

Posted by Smokey Stover on October 21, 2004

In Reply to: Cool Water/ Sons Of the Pioneers posted by SR on October 19, 2004

: : : : : What is the significance of calling people "Tumbleweeds"?

: : : : A tumbleweed is rootless and goes where the wind blows it. Calling a person that could mean he has no firm convictions or maybe no strong family ties.

: : : : Merriam-Webster:
: : : : tumbleweed -- a plant (as Russian thistle or any of several amaranths) that breaks away from its roots in the autumn and is driven about by the wind as a light rolling mass.

: : : : : I think it was meant to be ruder than that!

: : : : I think you'll find what you are looking for here:
: : : : www.urbandictionary.com

: : :
: : : One of my favourite songs of the Old West:

: : : Artist/Band: Sons Of The Pioneers
: : : Lyrics for Song: Tumbling Tumbleweeds
: : : Lyrics for Album: RCA Country Legends

: : : I'm a roaming cowboy riding all day long,
: : : Tumbleweeds around me sing their lonely song.
: : : Nights underneath the prairie moon,
: : : I ride along and sing this tune.

: : : See them tumbling down
: : : Pledging their love to the ground
: : : Lonely but free I'll be found
: : : Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.

: : : Cares of the past are behind
: : : Nowhere to go but I'll find
: : : Just where the trail will wind
: : : Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.

: : : I know when night has gone
: : : That a new world's born at dawn.

: : : I'll keep rolling along
: : : Deep in my heart is a song
: : : Here on the range I belong
: : : Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.

: : That was great. One of the joys of my childhood was the privilege of riding my bike with some pals on Saturday morning to a movie house seven miles away (much of it up steep hills) to see Roy Rogers , The Lone Ranger and all those other wonderful, cowboys, as well as a rousing movie serial. Remember those? Anyway, Roy Rogers was my favorite, largely because of the Sons of the Pioneers. Now can you give us the lyrics of Cool Water? SS

: I am at your service SS!
: Artist/Band: Sons Of The Pioneers
: Lyrics for Song: Cool Water
: Lyrics for Album: RCA Country Legends

: All day I face the barren waste without the taste of water, Cool water.
: Old Dan and I with throats burned dry and souls that cry for water, Cool water.

: The night are cool and I'm a fool each stars a pool of water, Cool water.
: But with the dawn I'll wake and yawn and carry on to water, Cool water.

: (Chorus)
: Keep a movin' Dan, don't you listen to him Dan, he's a devil not a man
: and he spreads the burnin' sand with water.
: Dan can't you see that big green tree where the waters runnin' free
: and it's waiting there for me and you.
: Water, cool water.

: The shadows sway and seem to say tonight we pray for water, Cool water.
: And way up there He'll hear our prayer and show us where there's water, Cool Water.

: Dan's feet are sore he's yearning for just one thing more than water, Cool water.
: Like me, I guess, he'd like to rest where there's no quest for water, Cool water.

: There are many lyrics sites availabe, Smokey. Just type in the song title and 'lyrics' or 'tabs' with it and you should find what you are looking for. Happy Trails! SR

Thanks, SR, I really appreciate the way you came through. And I noticed the Roy Rogers envoy.
Do I dare comment on Roy Rogers? You probably already know his story. He was an American icon and even an American eccentric. He had his horse Trigger stuffed and mounted for the Roy Rogers Museum, and some say he would have had Dale Evans stuffed and mounted as well, had he not predeceased her. He was born in 1911 in Cincinnati, Ohio, as Leonard Slye, and was interested in music from an early age. His dad moved the family to California in 1930, looking for better job prospects, the Depression having already begun to hit hard. While holding down some unrewarding jobs, Roy, as he soon called himself, began to join singing groups. In 1933 he founded the Pioneer Trio with Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer, who both, with Roy, became songwriters for the group. Tumbling Tumbleweeds and Cool Water were among their products.
The singing cowboys of the 1930s and 1940s, on the radio or in the movies-Tom Mix, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers-as well as those who didn't sing, like Hopalong Cassidy, the Lone Ranger, and in the Sunday comics Red Ryder, gave the country what it wanted in those Depression days, that is, entertainment, not history. It wanted escape, adventure, heroes of stout heart and corny dialogue, pretty much what it still wants even when the Depression is behind us. Roy Rogers became a movie cowboy in 1937. (He died in 1998.)
Movie westerns-or horse operas or oaters-are largely out of fashion, although they keep coming back, sometimes with overtones of Greek drama. Seven Against Thebes turned up not only as Seven Samurai, but also as The Magnificent Seven. TV westerns include one of the longest running series ever, Gunsmoke. Clint Eastwood's acting career started with a role in the series Rawhide, followed by the Italian movie western, A Fistful of Dollars. He has since done other cowboy roles.
Movie cowboys, needless to say, had little in common with real cowboys except the ability to ride a horse. I haven't heard that real cowboys did much singing, but I'll save my other comments for some other time. SS