From the recording STORM COUNTRY
(Lyrics by M.C. Armstrong and Grant Shuman)
Bass: Jared Zehmer
Drums: Wes Allen
Guitar: Jared Zehmer
Saxophone: Nikki Trail
Saxophone: Jesse Suggs
Violin: Tayler Coldiron
Vocals: Tayler Coldiron
Lyrics
I was born in the fields near Llano
Twenty years before the mine did blow
They say my daddy was the first to go
Down the shaft into the hell below
Might’ve been a spark of headlight
Never dug deep enough to know
Never dug deep enough to know
Company said leave our house now
No place left for mama anyhow
She weren’t gonna push another plow
It was work she said for the boss’s cow
She heard old Rosie Slaughter
Took women in with no vows
Took women in with no vows
Chorus
Cordelia, stay a little longer
I could give you five more dollars
Stay with me, on my honor
Can’t stand to see you go on to squalor
Mama couldn’t learn to be a dealer
After time all the players were cheaters
When the fall came she caught a fever
She prayed god was no deceiver
By the spring she didn’t fog the mirror
I was the only one left to grieve her
I was the only one left to grieve her
Rosie said it ain’t free here
The eyes of men they did linger
Never wore the key on my finger
So strange to me it never got easier
Some came to me young and tender
Some came to me and got meaner
Some came to me and got meaner
Chorus
Bridge
Cordelia said if it’s dangerous it must be a good idea
No stranger to the men who tried to claim her
She lit fire to the drapes
The door closed in a whisper
As the hotel was burning
She joined the other drifters
Back to the fields of Llano
Twenty years after the mine did blow
Took every dollar from that bordello
And every last cent old Rosie owed
Sold a poor girl for money
Now the girl’s got all the gold
Now the girl’s got all the gold