Zoomer Roberts: vocal
Buddy Winston: guitar & harmony vocal
recorded 27 March 2010
This original song about living and dying in El Paso has been kicking around for a couple of years. The bridge has been altered from the previous (and now deleted) version. Some of the lyrics are symbolic. Others are literal. Long-time El Pasoans will recognize many of the references. I do indeed live on the western slopes of the Franklin Mountains and intend to stay put. The rest of the world passes through in a ceaseless parade of numbness, on its way to God-knows-where.
LYRICS:
On the side of this mountain it's always I've been
I'll watch you go out like I watched you come in
And when you are leavin' it's goodbye old friend
On the side of this mountain I'll stay 'til the end.
On the side of this mountain I'll stand like a tree
In a tiny oasis that no one but me
Can look at and tell if it's Heaven or Hell
On the side of this mountain I'll drink from the well
Each day the sun sets just a little bit later
And the big orange moon rises o'er the equator
Displaying its ridges, its rocks and its craters
And shines on the places where young escapaders
Were served Chico's Tacos by Mexican waiters
Drank cheap bourbon whiskey at drive-in theatres
And went to the Plaza to torment the gators
Recuérdame mi corazón
From the side of this mountain I can see through the years
And measure my days by the laughter and tears
For I have been with you and I've been without
On the side of this mountain I'll stand and I'll shout
And then some glad morning my ashes will blow
Up the Carlsbad Highway to New Mexico
Where the gypsum is glistening and the desert winds blow
Where the wispy wildflowers and the tumbleweeds grow
By the banks of the old Rio Grande that flows
Where the snowy Sandias kiss the valley below
Like the morning dew kisses the bloom of the rose
Espérame mi carazón
On the side of this mountain I'll stay until then
'Til the Lord at long last bids my soul to ascend
'Til the years melt away and the ages roll by
On the side of this mountain I'll live 'til I die.
© Zoomer Roberts
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El Paso artist Pat Olchefski-Winston (Buddy's wife) did this vibrant water color of Buddy and me in 2001. For more information about Pat and her work, go to: www.olchefski.com and www.artistsofthesouthwest.com
Link to Snapshots, Clippings, Stuff I've Written, and More...
Listening Instructions
Right-click on the song title or a link in the body of the post to open box.net in a new window or tab. You will have the option of downloading the song to your own computer or listening to it on the built-in player. At the bottom of each blog page is a self-explanatory "older posts" link.
What it is...
I've been playing music in the El Paso area for nearly fifty years, and I've accumulated hundreds of tapes along the way. Here they are. Most of these performances were captured with inexpensive portable equipment in living rooms, taverns, houses of worship, festival tents and theatres. Some were recorded off the radio, some directly from public address systems. A few were actually recorded in professional recording studios. Some of these hands are folded now, and some of these voices are stilled. This is what I've done, where I've been and who I've known. This is my scrapbook.
Art by Pat Olchefski-Winston
El Paso artist Pat Olchefski-Winston (Buddy's wife) did this vibrant water color of Buddy and me in 2001. For more information about Pat and her work, go to: www.olchefski.com and www.artistsofthesouthwest.com
With Ernest Tubb ~ 1980
Back in 1983 with Mickey Cochran (guitar) and Bobby Napier (fiddle). Bobby went on to bigger things, including a stint with Tammy Wynette.
1980s Bidness Card
