American Remains

I am a shotgun rider for the San Jacinto line,

The desert is my brother, my skin is cracked and dry

I was riding on a folk coach and everything was fine,

'Til we took a shorter road to save some time

The bandits only fired once,

they shot me in the chest

They may have wounded me

but they'll never get the best,

Of better men:

'Cos I'll ride again

I am a river gambler, I make a livin' dealin' cards

My clothes are smooth and honest,

my heart is cold and hard

I was shufflin' for some delta boys

on a boat for New Orleans,

I was the greatest shark they'd ever seen

But the Captain bumped a sandbar,

and an ace fell from my sleeve

They threw me overboard as I swore I didn't cheat,

But I could swim:

And I'll ride again

We are heroes of the homeland, American remains

We live in many faces and answer many names

We will not be forgotten, we won't be left behind

Our memories live on in mortal minds

And poets pens:

We'll ride again

I am a mid-west farmer, I make a livin' off the land,

I ride a John Deere tractor, I'm a liberated man

But the rain it hasn't fallen,

since the middle of July,

And if it don't come soon my crops will die

The bank man says he likes me,

but there's nothin' he can do

He tells me that he's comin'

but the clouds are comin' too

He ain't my friend:

And I'll ride again

I am an American Indian, my tribe is Cherokee

My forefathers loved this land

they left it here for me

But the white man came with boats

and trains and dirty factories,

An' poisened my existence with his deeds

Nature is our mother,

we are sucklings at her breast

And he who trys to beat her down

will lose her to the rest

They'll never win

I'll ride again

We are heroes of the homeland, American remains

We live in many faces and answer many names

We will not be forgotten, we won't be left behind

Our memories live on in mortal minds

And poets pens:

We'll ride again