Gary's songs are listed below in alphabetical order.
Please click the song title to view the writer credits, album info, publisher info, comments from Gary, and, of course, the song lyrics.
You can also listen to Gary's music on Amazon Music, Apple Music, and Spotify.
Enjoy!
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: All in the Journey
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"This was written the year we toured an incredible number of miles and still manage the long haul to Mexico. Pay your toll or take the free road and utter chaos. Lynne kept saying, 'It's all in the journey'."
Gary
Lead vocal & acoustic guitar: Gary Fjellgaard
Nylon string guitar: David Sinclair
Cello: Finn Manniche
BG Vocal: Linda Kidder
It’s all in the journey / And it starts from the cradle
We look for the roses / On the side of the road
Every day every moment / We try to remember
That it’s all in the journey / Wherever we may go
Love has no ending / It starts with a whisper
Or hides in the desert / On the side of the road
Every day is a promise / That can never be broken
Cause it’s all in the journey / Wherever we may go
We’ve never seen this road before
We’ve never paid this toll before
We picked a rose / From the desert floor
That was worth the price / And so much more
Every day every moment / We try to remember
That it’s all in the journey / Wherever we may go
It's all in the journey / Wherever we may go
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: All in the Journey
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"Billy Miner road up from the States to the South Thompson region of British Columbia. He spent over half his life in prison. I got to thinking about Billy's crimes in comparison to today's modern leaders of Nations. Hey, Billy wasn't all that bad."
Gary
Lead vocal and mandolin: Gary Fjellgaard
Bass: Rene Worst
Drums: Shawn Soucy
Fiddle: Cam Wilson
Acoustic guitar: David Sinclair
BG vocals: Linda Kidder & David Sinclair
Have you heard about a bandit / By the name of Billy Miner
Slippery as a grey fox / Runnin’ through the sage
Billy had a pistol / Big forty four pistol
He had a hideout / Down in the cottonwood
Back when Billy robbed trains
Billy was a gentleman / He never robbed a poor man
Had a little bit of Robin Hood / Runnin’ through his veins
He rode into Canada / Lookin’ for his liberty
He spent half his life / Behind prison walls
Back when Billy robbed trains
Saddle up you cowboys / Gather up the townfolk
Getting’ up a posse/ Gonna’ run him to the ground
Billy had a fast horse / He made his get away
Back / In the boots and saddle days
Back when Billy robbed trains
You got your modern day outlaw Leaders of Nations
They threaten devastation/ With a bible in their hands
If God blesses anyone / God blesses everyone Billy was a saint / By comparison
And Billy robbed trains
He just robbed trains
So saddle up you cowboys / Gather up the townfolk
Getting up a posse/ Gonna run ‘em to the ground
They better have a fast horse / When they make their get away
Cause back in the / Boots and saddle days
Back when Billy robbed trains
We’d hang ‘em high / From the cottonwood
Back when Billy robbed trains
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: Caragana Wind
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"Reunions in small prairie towns inspire a nostalgic look into the innocent days. Innocent? Could be stretchin' it a bit."
Gary
Not much remains / Of those barefoot days
Just the odd memory / From an innocent age
When I was a skinny kid / Out at the knees
And you were the girl / Of my dreams
You came from that farm / At the end of the road
Baked by the sun / Full of thistles and stones
I still remember / Your freckles and jeans
Back in those / Barefoot days
And it's so good / To see you again
At this small town reunion / Remembering when
Ah sometimes I wish / That we could go back
To those summers / When we were just kids
But we'll never / As long as we live
Go back to those / Barefoot days
Back to the / Innocent age
We never thought / That those summers would end
Back in those / Barefoot days
We often rode double / On the back of my horse
Kicking our heels in his side / We would ride
To the end of the pasture / You holding on tight
With your hair flying / Back in the wind
I was looking for wages / When I left the farm
I heard you got married / To a rancher back home
Do you ever wonder / When you think of those days
How innocent / Young love can be
Writer: Ian Tamblyn
Album: Contenders Two: Still in the Running
Publishers: Sea Lynx Music / SOCAN
I’ve been a sailor / For far too many years
Nothing but the flotsam / And the tides
But all of that is changing / I’ll set my course today
And dream reach of a way / To the bay of sails
And of course / You know the place
Hard by Benachee Bay / Where the blue whales
And the snowy petrals play
Come on lay your burdens down / Let the capstan spin
And I will meet you / Down at the Bay of Sails
I will cross the bridge of sighs / Skirt the dangerous slopes
I hear the birch stand tall / In the Bay of Sails
I will cross the blue crevasse / Dive the deep dark green
And I will meet you / Down in the Bay of Sails
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: Contenders Two: Still in the Running
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
Have you heard about a bandit / By the name of Billy Miner
Slippery as a grey fox / Runnin’ through the sage
Billy had a pistol / Big forty four pistol
He had a hideout / Down in the cottonwood
Back when Billy robbed trains
Billy was a gentleman / He never robbed a poor man
Had a little bit of Robin Hood / Runnin’ through his veins
He rode into Canada / Lookin’ for liberty
He spent half his life / Behind prison walls
Back when Billy robbed trains
Gather up the cowboys / Gather up the townfolk
Gettin’ up a posse/ Gonna run him to the ground
Billy had a fast horse / He made his get away
Back / In the boots and saddle days
Back when Billy robbed trains
You got yer modern day outlaw Leaders of Nations
They threaten devastation/ With a bible in their hands
If God blesses anyone / God blesses everyone Billy was a saint / By comparison
Oh, and Billy robbed trains
He just robbed trains
So gather up the cowboys / Gather up the townfolk
Getting up a posse/ Gonna run ‘em to the ground
They better have a fast horse / When they make their get away
Cause back in the / Boots and saddle days
Back when Billy robbed trains
We’d hang ‘em high / From the cottonwood
Back when Billy robbed trains
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Albums: The Collection: Solo Acoustic / Grande Olde Ride
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
In her upstairs room / She sits beside the window
Starin' till she / Just can't see no more
Has it been a year / Or has it been forever
Since that cowboy left / To fight that crazy war
So she wraps herself inside / His buckskin jacket
You know the one that smells of / horse and honest sweat
He was after all / Just a workin’ cowboy
She loved that boy / With everything she had
Freedom was one thing / They always counted on
Worth fighting for / That's what they believed
When a poster said / We need more able bodies
He just looked at her and said / They must mean me
He said/One last night / Before I have to leave you
If I have to go and fight / I'll fight to win
He left the upstairs room / While she lay sleeping
With his buckskin coat / Against her naked skin
He wasn't much / For sentimental letters
But he wrote to her / As faithful as can be
He said a cowboy / Who never took to water
Ain't it funny how / I ended up at sea
For three long months / That crazy war's been over
She wonders if she'll spend / Her life alone
Then she heard familiar footsteps / In the hallway
By some miracle / Her cowboy made it home
So they wrap themselves inside / His buckskin jacket
You know the one that smells of / Horse and honest sweat
He was after all / Just a workin’ cowboy
He loved that girl / With everything he had
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Album: Grande Olde Ride
Publishers: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
The buffalo are back boys / the buffalo are back
They're a natural for this range boys / hey that's a basic fact
They once were small in number / Their future was so black
I'm glad to say / The buffalo are back
Now man was part and parcel / Of some large historic goof
We almost lost the bison / Sixty million on the hoof
But there were men with vision boys / A lucky thing was that
And I'm proud to say / The buffalo are back
We'll bow to mother nature boys / We will not strip her bare
We'll tend the mighty buffalo / With tender loving care
All our son's and daughters / Will be proud of what we've done
When they see those bison / Grazin’ in the sun
Call ‘em buffalo or bison boys / What difference does it make
To build that mighty herd again / We'll give more than we take
And one thing is for certain boys / and that will never change
The buffalo are back on the range
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: Caragena Wind
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"The political position of most folks on some of the smaller west coast islands are carefully examined in this song. Should have LEFT this one off the CD."
Gary
We live on these rocks / Where the ferry boat docks
Still wearin’ black gumboots and slickers
We brag and we boast / Of this life on the coast
But sometimes we argue and bicker
Just as long as we live by the sea
Just as long as my darlin' loves me
For whatever it's worth / We're apart of the earth
And that's not such a bad place to be
Just as long as we live by the sea
Down at the Islanders Hall / A meeting was called
They said a bridge would improve our condition
When it came to a vote / Everybody said no
We're taking the lotus position
We gather the wood / That will fit in the stove
Given up by the wind and the breakers
We barter and trade / We lay in the shade
And manjana means sooner or later
Some say it's a fact / We're a little laid back
Some say not over ambitious
It's not that we shirk / Ah but why should we work
When we can munch on granola and fishes
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Albums: The Collection: Solo Acoustic / Caragana Wind
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"The house still stands like a ghost framed by the prairie sky, roof caving in, windows broken, caragana's growing wild in the wind."
Gary
They said goodbye / To the old home place
Sarah dabbed a tear / With a wisp of lace
She said John I hate to leave / This caragana wind
Ah now Sarah / Go ahead and cry
I know fifty years / Is a long long time
Then just up and leave this farm / To the caragana wind
Hey Sarah / There's that horse drawn rake
One last look / For old times sake
There's that wagon box / That busted sleigh
Everything turns / Barn board grey
And you and me Sarah / We got that way
In the caragana wind / The caragana wind
Everything turns grey / In the caragana wind
It takes an eight wheel tractor / To make a go
And five sections / Is just a one man show
We can't fight the bank / And the caragana wind
So there's not much sense / In hangin’ on
When everybody's / Moved to town
We'd just be here alone / In the caragana wind
You know those matching clydes / Were quite a team
Never let you down / Like some damn machine
There's nothing left / But dry old bones
Buried beneath / That pile of stones
And you and me Sarah / We're getting’ old
In the caragana wind / The caragana wind
You and me Sarah / Gettin' old
In the caragana wind / The caragana wind
Everything turns / Barn board grey
You and me Sarah / We got that way
Everything turns grey / In the caragana wind
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: The Collection: Solo Acoustic
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
He's a fisherman a farmer
He's a roughneck he's a logger
If his hands get a little dirty that's alright
Well his money don't come easy
But he seems to spend it freely
As he buys a round for the boys on Saturday night
He's a trucker he's a cowboy
He's a worker on the railway
He lives in a camp and they work him overtime
If there's a poker game in progress
He will gather in the bunkhouse
Swapin’ yarns and dealin’ cards till breakfast time
Don't change the color of your collar
Nothin’ wrong with a dirty shade of blue
Don't change the color of your collar
We'd be proud to be just a little bit more like you
There's an airtight heater glowin’
Like a red eye in the corner
With chainsaw parts and dirty socks on the floor
Cursin’ off those benders
In a tangle of suspenders
And a cold water wash in a basin by the door
Well it's cold out there this mornin’
Better get those diesels runnin’
Cause the crummy's leavin’ for the bush if you wanna ride
Four more months till break-up
Knowin’ they gotta keep-up
The one thing they got plenty of is pride
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: The Collection: Solo Acoustic
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
In the hills beyond the prairie
Just below the timberline
On our trusty faithful ponies
We'll go riding back in time
We are sailors of the saddle
Leather faced and hard as steel
And we'll ride into the sunset
We will know how freedom feels
I can see your still a dreamer
Sometimes stumble in the dark
Though your lives be uneventful
There's a cowboy in your heart
We'll be rough we'll be ready
Like some band of desperate men
Were living proof and living color
That the wild bunch rides again
We will set those spurs a jinglin’
We'll walk the line we'll toe the mark
Ridin high ridin’ easy
With a cowboy in your heart
I love the taste of freedom
The wind the earth and sky
I will roam and I will wander
And be a cowboy till I die
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: The Collection: Solo Acoustic
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
He was leather and dust
He was bent and busted
Just a worn out broken down cowboy
He was rodeo
That was years ago
Now the rodeo is over
She was young and soft
Every hat came off
In respect for all that beauty
She was a dance hall prize
In every young man's eyes
And in the heart of that old cowboy
I wanna hold you close to me he said
I wanna feel my arms around you
And if you don't mind my askin’ you
Would you dance with this old cowboy
That cowboy fell in love
Head over heels in love
With that vision of the prairie
Would you dance with me
He so bravely asked her
His last dance just a memory
And then she smiled a smile
Like to melt his heart
She said you almost had me worried
I've been waitin’ all night
I thought you'd never ask me
I'm so glad you found the courage
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Album: Grande Olde Ride
Publisher: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
Come all you weekend cowboys
We got one more day of ridin’
We got one more night / Out here on the trail
Saddle sores and weary
Throats dry and dusty
We got one more chance / To let go of the reins
And we'll be dancin’ in the grass / Till after midnight
To a pick up band/Who knows every two step
We'll never get enough / Raisin hell'n raisin dust
Every heart breakin’ trail / Is in the past
To a weekend cowboy / Dancin’ in the grass
Get a taste of cowboy life
Out here on this cattle drive
We can wave those worries / All goodbye
Leather tough wild and free
Ain't no place we'd rather be
Than here beneath / That big old western sky
The moon is full of romance
Shining on the sagebrush
Like a painting from a / Charlie Russel scene
We've never seen the ladies
Looking quite so pretty
A fantasy / in every cowboy's dream
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: The Collection: Solo Acoustic
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
There's a shack along the road
The old cowboy calls it home
There’s not much to do but watch the trucks roll by
So he sits and drinks his tea
Rocking to some memory
Just a drifting cowboy taking one last ride
His dreams are like the ghost
Of the only life he knows
His silver spurs jingle and shine
Once he was young and hell on wheels
Now can you picture how he feels
Still riding broncos somewhere back in time
Those prairie winds still blow
Like they did so long ago
Ah but the tumbleweeds don't roll quite the same
They old line riders ask
When will the buffalo come back
And will the drifting cowboys ever drift again
He rides into the town
As the sun is going down
He ties his trusty pony to the rail
Some trail boss and his crew
They stand him one or two
But tonight we'll find him out there on the trail
Drifting cowboy
Taking one last ride
Just a speck out on the prairie
And a little spark of glory in my eyes
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard, Whiz Bryant & Socan
Album: Grande Olde Ride
Publisher: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
If we could see / Through the eyes / of a cowboy
We could ride the wild prairie / With the Blackfoot and Cree
We could ride the high valleys / Where the grizzly roam free
We could cross the Red River
Herd cattle / Up the old Chisholm Trail
If we could see / Through the eyes / of a cowboy
If we could look/Through the eyes /of a cowboy
We could ride through the badlands / With the Youngers and James
We could run through the sagebrush / With the outlaw Mcleans
We could / Taste of their freedom
And nothing tastes / Better than that
If we could look / Through the eyes of a cowboy
Ridin in to the sunset / With Roy and Gene taggin’ along
With our trusty companions / Singing the old cowboy songs
If we could see / Through the eyes / of a cowboy
We could be the dark stranger / Who rides into town
The fearless old lawman / Starin’ him down
We might be the good guy / The cowboy saving the girl
If we could see / Through the eyes / Of a cowboy
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Albums: The Collection: Solo Acoustic / All in the Journey
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"I always wanted an acoustic version of this song and the environmental message is more relevant today than ever. Folks who make a living from the earth, I’m sure understand this."
Gary
Lead vocal & acoustic guitar: Gary Fjellgaard
Mandolin: David Sinclair
Bass: Rene Worst
BG Vocals: Linda Kidder & David Sinclair
There’s a hawk in the sky with a lean hungry eye
A hunter of the old brown hills
Somewhere in the west the sun is gonna set
A moment just before he makes his kill
A cowboy’s mendin' fence and the heat waves rise
There’s a wind with a breath like a fire
He kicks at the dust and wipes his brow
The falcon came to rest upon the wire
He sat there looking at the cowboy
The cowboy looked right back at him
I guess they must have reached some understanding
If we share this range we might as well be friends
We are the keepers of the earth down here in the dirt
With every living thing at our mercy
For a moment in the wind you and I my friend
Are given all this power and this glory
We are the keepers of the earth, keeping her for better or for worse
Just like the falcon and the cowboy
He slaps his hat on a worn out chap
Had a drink from a warm canteen
And as if to say well I guess that’s that
The falcon just up and flew away
He circled once and looked down on the cowboy
The cowboy stared right back at him
I guess they reached some final understanding
If we share this range we might as well be friends
So long old buddy till we meet again
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: Contenders Two: Still in the Running
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
Tryin’ to keep up / I'll catch you if I can
Might even pass you / on the corner
That old coast road / Is a well traveled road
Who knows where we will be / Come tomorrow
We've been down that road / A thousand times or more
Down that road / Just for the love of it
We've been down that road / A thousand times or more
Down that road / Just for the love of it
There's a cold north wind / On these wild Pacific shores
We're like a boat set adrift / With no captain
But there's stars in our eyes / See how they shine
Like a light on that / Long black horizon
We have sailed that ship / A thousand times before
Sailed that ship / Just for the love of it
We have sailed that ship / A thousand times before
Sailed on that ship / Just for the love of it
The home fires burn / In the wind and the rain
She watches for those lights / In the driveway
She gets lonely at times / In that cabin by the sea
She don't like that life / Out on the highway
We've been down that road / A thousand times or more
Down that road / Just for the love of it
We've been down that road / A thousand times or more
Down that road / Just for the love of it
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Album: Grande Olde Ride
Publishers: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
We ride on untamed horses / We sail on dangerous waters
We stumble and we scramble / To climb some distant hill
High above the canyons / Just to watch the sundown
Drinking every moment / Till we drink our fill
It's a grand old ride/ Such a grand old ride
Drinking every moment / Till we drink our fill
It's a grand old ride / Such a grand old ride
You still have that magic / Your still quite the beauty
I'm amazed after all this time / You still love me
How deep is the river / Guess we'll take our chances
A leap of faith we'll jump in / And drift to the sea
It's a grand old ride / Such a grand old ride
A leap of faith we'll jump right in / Drift to the sea
It's a grand old ride / It's a grand old ride
And if we get lost / Somewhere along the trail
We'll drop the reins / Hold on tight
And love will show the way
It's a grand old ride / Such a grand old ride
Drinking every moment / Till we drink our fill
It's a grand old ride / Such a grand old ride
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: All in the Journey
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"Lynne and I were in the ghost town of Barkerville BC long before any of the restoration, when it was a true ghost town. Looking at all the artifacts hanging on the walls we realized we had used most of them in our many years together. This became our fiftieth anniversary song."
Gary
Lead vocal and acoustic guitar: Gary Fjellgaard
Violin: Cam Wilson
Cello: Finn Manniche
Have we been here before
Were we the ones who found the gold / In Williams Creek
Did we drive that team of mules / Down that dusty street
Was that my spurs / Hanging on the door
Am I the ghost / Who would dance with you once more
Have we been here before
Have we been here before
Was it you and I who rode the stage / To Anaheim
Did we join up with the drovers / On a cattle drive
Is that the dress of calico / You once wore
Are you the ghost / Who would dance with me once more
Have we been here before
This place / Holds so many memories
Artifacts and history
We must have used / Some of these familiar things
Yesterday
We danced / To a fiddle in the old saloon
Remember how / We loved that tune
The music / Played for half a century
And still it plays / On
Have we been here before
Following the footsteps of / The pioneers
Their tracks / Slowly vanishing / Thru the years
They had dreams / That helped them to survive
We have this love / Still very much alive
Is that my spurs / Hanging on the door
Is that the dress of calico / You once wore
Are we the ghosts / Dancing here once more
Have we been here before
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Album: Grande Olde Ride
Publishers: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
Leavin’ tracks in the dust / On the heart break trail
My collar up / Ridin all alone
The night winds seem to cry / On the heart break trail
But this old cowboys / comin’ home
There was a big old yellow moon / On the heart break trail
I remember the reflection / In her eyes
The tears fell like rain / On the heart break trail
The night this old cowboy / Said goodbye
We could be the heroes
In a movie of the week
About a cowboy / and his foolish pride
And a ridin’ in the sunset / happy ending
My pony seems so eager / He holds his head up high
The moon goes down / Another day begins
Just a few more miles to water / Two arms to hold me tight
I'll never ride that heart break trail again
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Album: Grande Olde Ride
Publishers: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
Love is lost / love is found
On unmarked trails / on rocky ground
We simply try / to carry on
To the hidden valley
And over the mountains
Along some winding river
We'll ride into the sunset side by side
And I could not love you
Anymore than forever
We'll find that hidden valley by and by
You must have known / I loved you so
Forty some odd / years ago
Still were searching / high and low
For the hidden valley
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: The Collection: Solo Acoustic
Publisher: Helping Hand Music
When I was young I used to trade
My comic books and home made guns
And little cowboys on the run
Were killers just like me
We'd hang those dirty outlaws high
With rawhide ropes of binder twine
Red Ryder was a friend of mine
A hero just for me
I remember when we stole a can
Of tobacco from the hired hand
Seein' as how we were workin' men
We'd smoke till we were green
We could spit and we could fight
And we believed each others lies
Ridin' fast and ridin' high
For all the world to see
Whatever happened to my heroes
They don't make em like they did in forty four
But they were there when I needed them
I wish they'd all come back again
I don't have no heroes anymore
They travel thru my memory
Those riders and their legacy
I know they all remembered me
They called me by my name
Then like a ghost from yesterday
My heroes thunder on their way
Back into a lonely grave
For all eternity
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard & Darrel Delaronde
Album: All in the Journey
Publishers: Slim Creek Music / Darrel Delaronde
A few words about this song ...
"Co-written with Darrel Delaronde who came to me with this wonderful melody, and the idea that heaven could not be truly paradise without horses. As a lover of the western lifestyle it made perfect sense to me."
Gary
Lead vocal and acoustic guitar: Gary Fjellgaard
Nylon string and electric guitar: David Sinclair
BG vocals: Linda Kidder & David Sinclair
Tales of the west / Some of them true
Old heroes at rest / Do the horses rest too
A cowboy’s companion / On high lonesome trails
Grazin’ / Up there in the sky
Or saddled / and ready to ride
Chorus:
I hope there are horses / In heaven
That’s the one thing / I’d like to know
I don’t care if I’m walking / On streets paved with gold
I hope there are horses / In heaven
A buckskin I owned / Half broke and half wild
When I put him down / I kept the hurtin’ inside
A cowboy’s companion / On high lonesome trails
He could run / Swift as the wind
I’d love to ride / That buckskin again
Chorus
When my time is at hand / When the last roundup’s done
Will I question his plan / If I stand at His Throne
If heaven has a pony / To carry me home
To that range / In the sweet bye and bye
Then Lord / I’m ready to ride
Chorus
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: All in the Journey
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"This song is dedicated to the First Nations victims and survivors of the cultural genocide which occurred in Canada for over a century. No apology can heal the wounds caused by the far reaching effects of the residential school system. I can only add my voice as a member of the generation who allowed this abuse to take place. This song is available as a free download on the home page of this website."
Gary
Lead vocal and acoustic guitar: Gary Fjellgaard
Drums: Elliot Polsky
Bass: Brian Newcombe
Electric guitar: David Sinclair
Violin: Cam Wilson
BG vocal: Linda Kidder
I have this guilt / I have this shame
I have a conscience / So I have to take the blame
I stood back / I watched it all
I even helped imprison you / Behind those walls
No excuse / Is good enough
We never let you speak / Unless you mimicked us
I can’t run / I can’t hide
Why I can’t even / Look you in the eye
No hollow prayer / No silent shout
No more empty words / Spilling from my mouth
You stripped away / My thin disguise
Now all that I can do is say / I’m sorry
I apologize
I thought that God / Was on my side
And with my righteousness / I’d tame the savage child
I would not have them / Running free
If they assimilate / They could be like me
How many can / The wagons hold
Another thousand children / I suppose
It must have seemed / Like judgement day
The anguish / As the wagons rolled away
I can’t begin / To know your pain
You can’t forgive / As long as memory remains
Through it all / You still survive
And all that I can do is say / I’m sorry
Choking on the words that say / I’m sorry
I apologize
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Album: Caragana Wind
Publishers: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
A few words about this song ...
"Admire the workin' cowboy, his lifestyle and that undaunted spirit we all wish we had. Who will take care of those wild, lonely places if the cowboy goes away."
Gary
If the cowboy goes away
Who will ride the lonely places
Who will nurse the tortured ranges
Who will gather in the stray
If the cowboy disappears
Who will protect the sweet grass prairie
And the high wild sanctuary
If the cowboy goes away
There are still some old vaqueros / Down in Mexico
With tales of California / So long ago
The open range is gone / Like the buffalo
They just sit and watch the sunset / On those desert hills
That there are still vaqueros left boys / It's a miracle
If the cowboy goes away
Who will be out there ridin’ fences
Who will still have common senses
If the cowboy goes away
They say the cowboy will be one brief page / Of history
Why anyone would say that / Is a mystery
When heroes ride away / There's a legacy
But if somewhere on the borderline / That story ends
And all that we can say boys / Is remember when
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: All in the Journey
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"Lynne has asked many times over the years, 'When are you going to quit the business?' After a particular rough twenty six thousand kilometer journey that question kept coming up more often but with more of a tone of desperation. That beach in Mexico is starting to look better all the time."
Gary
Lead vocal and acoustic guitar: Gary Fjellgaard
Drums: Shawn Soucy
Bass: Rene Worst
Electric guitar, dobro, banjo, jaw harp, and tuba sample: David Sinclair
My wife said I should retire / I think you’ve lost your fire
And you’ll never write the perfect country song
What’s that you say my dear / Try the other ear
I’ll know when it’s time to move along
You know I get these muscle cramps / Pickin’ up my amp
I need help just to get up on the stage
My eyes are getting dim / I gotta feel to plug it in
And the only thing I’m feelin’ is my age
Chorus
It’s knowin’ when to quit the business
Head on down to old Mexico
It's cold out on the prairies / When you tour in January
With the wind chill it’s forty nine below
It’s knowin’ when to quit the business
Time to give it up and let it go
This musical direction / Needs a southerly connection
It's knowin’ when to quit and go to Mexico
I still got some cowboy pride / In this dried up wrinkled hide
I feel like twenty one / In my brain
I stand up here so proud / But out there in the crowd
Is a look of mild discomfort and disdain
If we pair things to the bone / Sell everything we own
We’ll still be broke and livin' in the red
Oh, did I fail to mention / We get the old age pension
We can live on that but only if we’re dead
Chorus (last half)
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Album: Caragana Wind
Publishers: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
A few words about this song ...
"Crossing the Baja border for the first time was a grand experience for a songwriter. I became Juan,the lonely desperado riding a wild eyed stallion through the hills of Mexico searching for her secrets."
Gary
There's been a change in me my friends / Ever since I crossed the border
Another gringo has become / A lonely desperado
I ride the hills of Mexico / Searching for her secrets
I am Juan the lonely desperado / Out among the cactus
Hey hombre would you like to buy / A poncho and sombrero
Five hundred pesos later / I am mucho desperado
From the back of a wild eyed stallion / Out there in the plaza
I gallup away in a cloud of dust / Ah just like Poncho Villa
With silver spurs and silver bits / And long tapederos
I cross the high Sonorans / As a lonely desperado
A village had been taken by / Bandidos from Diablo
So I ride in like Clint Eastwood / With my blazing pistoleros
They gathered round my stirrup friends / And cheered this cabellero
The senoritas cried as one voice / Juan you are my hero
I must gallop on my way amigos / North across the border
But I'll come back to Mexico / As a lonely desperado
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: Caragana Wind
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"Too much Baja sun, a gray haired gringo takes an evening stroll on the waterfront, downtown La Paz. Mmmm, could be trouble. Stupid gringo."
Gary
I have a tale that you should know
It happened down in Mexico
I get too much of the Baja sun
So I take a stroll on the Malecon
An evening stroll on the Malecon
I love the shrimp I love the prawn
I love the ladies on the Malecon
I see that girl in a red sarong
She strutting on the Malecon
Strutting her stuff on the Malecon
oh oh the Malecon / She strut her stuff on the Malecon
She say don't you like that disco song
Come dance with me on the Malecon
That saucy lady she turn me on
I fall in love on the Malecon
So much in love on the Malecon
I say I cannot speak in the Spanish tongue
She says it don't matter on the Malecon
I'll be yours until the dawn
You lucky gringo on the Malecon
You one lucky gringo on the Malecon
Oh oh the Malecon / You one lucky gringo on the Malecon
She say don't you worry ‘bout my boyfriend Juan
He's a little jealous but a gentleman
He stay at home and clean his gun
I slip away to the Malecon
I flit away to the Malecon
He kisses taste like honeycomb
Slow dancing on the Malecon
When suddenly I'm all alone
There's a bit of tension on the Malecon
Some apprehension on the Malecon
Oh oh the Malecon
I see his ugly face as the midnight come
I had too much tequila, too much rum
He say I shoot you dead you gringo scum
I leave you bleeding on the Malecon
Bleeding and dying on the Malecon
Oh oh the Malecon / I leave you dying on the Malecon
I didn't know how fast I could run
From a forty four in the hand of Juan
From that saucy lady in a red sarong
She wave goodbye from the Malecon
She blow me kisses from the Malecon
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: All in the Journey
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"It's a challenge sometimes for a songwriter to put difficult words into a song. Bougainvillea and eucalyptus came to mind sitting in a courtyard in Mexico. Try and spell that.
Gary
Lead vocal and mandolin: Gary Fjellgaard
Drums: Shawn Soucy
Bass: Rene Worst
Nylon string guitar and mandolin: David Sinclair
BG vocals: Linda Kidder & David Sinclair
Bougainvillea trails / from the courtyard walls
In the eucalyptus shade / I can hide from the Mexican sun
I sit here in the plaza / I drink my first tequila
And I dream about the night / that Spanish dancer / danced for me
The Mexican heat / was all around her
Mexican heat / like flashing silver
If I never come this way again / I’ll remember
The Spanish dancer / and the Mexican heat
Mariachi magic / and a million stars
I catch a glimpse of her / brown skin limbs / in the moonlight
Her dresses swirled around her / our eyes met for a moment
Was there anything / more beautiful in Mexico
Out there in the plaza / in a voice so soft and low
She said, "No Senior, I belong to Mexico"
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Album: All in the Journey
Publishers: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
A few words about this song ...
"The song is a lie, my sweetheart and I have never been riding in the Mexican moonlight unless you count the reins of a truck pulling a fifth wheel. We shouldn't be on those Baja roads after dark anyway."
Gary
I love freedom / The sweet taste of freedom
Slow movin’ freight trains / Small prairie towns
I love silence / Dreams that come true
Come and ride with me darlin
Under a Mexican Moon
We will ride, ride, ride / Lost in some old cowboy tune
Ride, ride, ride / Under a Mexican Moon
I love horses / Prancin’ and dancin’
High mountain skylines / Soft summer rain
I love heroes / Dreams that come true
Come and ride with me darlin
Under a Mexican Moon
The Streets of Laredo / The Strawberry Roan
The Red River Valley / Written in stone
South of the Border / Rollin along
Deep in our hearts / The old cowboy songs
I love faces / Grizzled old cowboys
Handshakes that matter / The desert in bloom
I love springtime / Dreams that come true
Come and ride with me darlin
Under a Mexican Moon
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard & Stuart Montgomery
Album: All in the Journey
Publishers: Slim Creek Music, Stuart Montgomery-Collins Music BMI, & Kitchen Table Music
We’ve been down / So many trails
Why we could tell / A thousand tales
Throwed to the ground / And got back up again
We dusted off / Those faded dreams
Mended them / Like old blue jeans
Then tipped our hats / And slowly rode away
There’s always one more pony to ride
One more blazing sunset
On a pair of matching chestnuts / On one more glory trail
There’s a fire in their eyes
From some forgotten battle
Better stick right to the saddle
Hold on tight / Don’t let go
There’s always one more rodeo / And one more bronc we have never tried
There’ll always be / One more pony ride
Tangled ropes / Calloused hands
Scars that burn / Just like a brand
In both our hearts / In both our memories
Rusty spurs / worn out chaps
There ain’t much use / In looking back
When we’re hard upon / The trail of destiny
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: Caragana Wind
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"Horse and toboggan to school. Leave him munchin' slough grass in the livery stable. What a magical place. They even had town council meetings in an empty stall where they made major decisions, l guess."
Gary
He came from the prairies / A friend of the family
We sipped on Saskatchewan moonshine
In the cool of the kitchen / We get to reminiscing
About back when we had us some good times
He said there's been some changes / Not all for the better
He put one more pint on the table
I said just in passin’ / Whatever happened
To Pop Campbell's Livery Stable
She was bigger than most / A community host
The prairies last cultural vision
The town council hall / Was a straw covered stall
Where the mayor made his major decisions
She was cool in the summer / Warm in the winter
Sway backed and bent down the middle
But the horses got fed / For two bits a head
At Pop Campbell's Livery Stable
Now the Anderson clan / Were of Scottish descent
With a mixture of Swede and Norwegian
On a Saturday night / They would look for a fight
And end up in a sorry condition
Don't fight in the barn boys / Pop'd give them a warning
Go home to your chores if your able
Or sleep in the loft / Where the slough grass is soft
At Pop Campbell's Livery Stable
Well they burned the place down / Then leveled the ground
To make way for the antique museum
Old buggies and sleighs / You can't sit in today
But if you stand behind the fence you can see ‘em
Don't panic old boy / If we run out of oil
Well I've managed to keep up the farm
And as a matter of course / We'll go back to the horse
And rebuild Old Pop Campbell's Barn
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard* / SOCAN
Album: Caragana Wind
Publishers: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
*Lyric inspiration from the poem "Courage" by Mike Puhallo
A few words about this song ...
"A poem by cowboy poet Mike Pullhalo struck a chord with me as the fires were raging through the North Thompson the summer of 2003. 'Half moon hangs blood red' or 'Standing in the ashes saying, we can build again' I couldn't leave that alone."
Gary
Flames / Dancing on the hills
Half moon hangs / Blood red
The devil has been fed
Dry / It's never been so dry
Night / Never ends
Damn that shifting wind
We have seen raw courage / Seen it in the eyes
Of all the burnt out families / Trying to survive
In the blackened weary faces / of those heroes on the line
In the love between a woman / And a man
Standing in the ashes saying / We can build again
And that's courage / Raw courage
Standing in the ashes saying / We can build again
Fly / Water bombers fly
Thunder / In the dawn
The battle rages on
Smoke / The valley's filled with smoke
Will we ever / See the sun
Not till the battles won
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Albums: The Collection: Solo Acoustic / Grande Olde Ride
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
I rode up from the valley
High above the fields and fences
Just to watch the storm clouds gather
See the lightning how it dances
On those wild and windy ranges
Through the ghost of unshod horses
My faith and my pony carry me
I hold the reins of glory
In my hands
In my hands
I hold the reins of glory
In my hands
I hear the cold white water
Laughing thru the canyon
Hear the whisper of the evergreen
Could it be the master callin’
I sing the songs of freedom
To the rhythm of the saddle
My faith and my pony carry me
I hold the reins of glory In my hands
I will ride forever / Through the peace that comes from silence
The faintest trail / Is all I ever need
I just follow in the footsteps / Of the one who comes before
He has touched / Everything I see
Writers: Mort Dixon & Harry Woods
Album: Contenders Two: Still in the Running
Publishers: Odle Clover Leaf Music ASCAP, Shapiro Bernstein & Co. Inc.
You keep goin’ your way / I’ll keep goin’ my way
River stay away from my door
I just got a cabin / You don’t need my cabin
River stay away from my door
Don’t come up any higher / I’m so all alone
Leave my house and my fire / That’s all that I own
I ain’t breakin’ your heart / Don’t go breakin’ my heart
River stay away from my door
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: All in the Journey
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"It was a crushing experience when we lost our beloved little dog Jake. This song is a tribute to our little guy and, I suppose, my way of dealing with the loss."
Gary
Lead vocal and acoustic guitar: Gary Fjellgaard
Violin: Cam Wilson
Cello: Finn Manniche
Electric guitar: David Sinclair
BG vocal: Linda Kidder
Run little guy / You’re a good little guy
Down by the ocean / Running on the sandstone
Chasing the geese / Till they swim out of reach
What would you have done / If you had ever caught them
Run little guy / You’re a good little guy
I would throw you a treat / You never learned to catch it
Chasing a stick / Was your favourite trick
You’d sit there and grin / And I would have to fetch it
Chorus
Following our scent / To a far horizon
Suddenly we both / Disappeared
Stay on the trail / Faithful companion
Someday we’ll both / Reappear
Run little guy / You’re a good little guy
Or sit on the back porch / Barking at the silence
Out in the yard / Like a soldier on guard
Do not be afraid / We’ll be there in a moment
Chorus
Run little guy / You’re a good little guy
How we rejoice / In your glorious freedom
Run little friend / With your nose to the wind
If we didn’t have a heart / It could never be broken
Writers: Troy Seals & Edward Setser
Album: Contenders Two: Still in the Running
Publisher: WB Music Group ASCAP
He looked down into her brown eyes
He said / Say a prayer for me
She threw her arms around him
Said / God will set us free
He could hear the riders comin’
He said / This is my last fight
If they take me back to Texas
They won’t take me back alive
There were seven Spanish Angels / At the alter of the sun
They were prayin’ for the lovers / In the valley of the gun
When the battle stopped and the smoke cleared
There was thunder from the throne
And seven Spanish Angels / Took another Angel home
She reached down and picked the gun up
That lay smoking in his hand
She said / Father please forgive me
I can’t make it without my man
She knew the gun was empty
She knew she couldn’t win
Her final prayer was answered
When the rifles fired again
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: All in the Journey
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"This song deals in a lighthearted way with ranchers who have to sell off small parcels of land to get some much needed cash. I say buy your ten acres, build your house but don't fence it. Let the rancher continue to use the graze. Everybody wins."
Gary
Lead vocal and acoustic guitar: Gary Fjellgaard
Drums: Shawn Soucy
Bass: Rene Worst
Nylon and electric guitars: David Sinclair
If I was a cowboy
Would you ride up here beside me
Would you settle down beneath the western sun
Would you be the one
I never was much good with cattle
But I got this horse and saddle
So let’s saddle up and ride out in the hills
What a thrill
I can’t believe / That we’re still playin’ cowboy
In this world of swift and sudden change
It’s good to know / That love can be forever
We can still play cowboy
If we can share the range
So we got ourselves ten acres
Make a livin’ shuffling papers
I cut that grass with a John Deer ride ‘em mower
What a chore
We should open up this pasture
To some down, hard workin’ rancher
I’ve heard it said that he’s seen better days
He could use the graze
I can’t believe / We’re still out playin’ cowboy
In this world of swift and sudden change
It’s good to know / That love can be forever
And we can still play cowboy
If we can share the range
Hats off to the cowboy / Who does the most for the common good
Is it the one who shuffles papers / Or the one who raises food
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Album: Grande Olde Ride
Publishers: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
In the year of two thousand
With forty four wagons
One twenty on horseback
We crossed history’s rivers and streams
Just for a moment
We tasted the romance
Of the settler and the cowboy
Who followed a dream
High in the saddle / with my new companions
Grass to the stirrup / out where the buffalo roam
They graze behind fences / as we rumble and clatter
The song of the wagons / on old buffalo bones
Roll wagons roll / blow west wind blow
Sweet sweet the song of the wagons / roll wagons roll
Slow movin’ bison / A Sunday mornin’ horizon
We gather to worship / on the hill with the valley below
When I need inspiration / When the wagon treks over
I'll hitch up these memories / to the wagons and go
Writer: John Prine
Album: Contenders Two: Still in the Running
Publishers: Big Ears Music Inc. ASCAP, Bruised Oranges
You come home late / and you / come home early
You come home big / or / When your feeling small
You come home straight / You come home curly
Sometimes you don’t / Come home at all
What in the world Has come over you
What in heavens name / Have you done
You’ve broken the speed of the / Sound of loneliness
Your out there runnin’ / Just to be on the run
I got a heart that burns / With a fever
I got a worried and / A jealous mind
How can a love that’d last forever
Get left so far behind
It’s a mighty mean and / Dreadful sorrow
That’s crossed that evil line / Today
How can you ask about / Tomorrow
When we ain’t got / One word to say
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Album: Grande Olde Ride
Publishers: Still Creek Music / SOCAN
When the winter storms are over
When the spring comes to the mountains
When the new born young and frisky
Chases through some early dawn
When the sky could not be bluer
When the western wind blows warmer
When the hope is in a young girls’ heart
The winter turns to spring
When the wild geese high above me
Are heading north beyond the border
With a cry so wild and lonely
Like to carry me away
When the cold and tumbling waters
Crashes through some mountain canyon
When the hope is in a young man's eyes
The winter turns to spring
When the grey and seasoned cowboys
Drive the cattle to the alpine
To that high and windy summer range
Where God chose to be
And when the evening shadows wander
Through the field down by the river
I will lay within my true love’s arms
When the winter turns to spring
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: Caragana Wind
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"Round a bend through the Rockies I can still see that steel horse smokin'. Looking back, the prairies disappeared."
Gary
I was one more prairie son / Back in nineteen fifty some
That wind was cold where I come from / I shivered in the station
Leavin’ on that west bound train / I didn't even know your name
I know you miss that west coast rain / I still miss the prairies
You came up from that southern town / To all those winters that've come and gone
I quit most jobs I ever found / Almost drove you crazy
Rocky mountain mystery / Stretching as far as I could see
Why you still belong to me / I sometimes have to wonder
Trains like a steel horse lullaby / Carry me across the great divide
And dream / Dreams that never die
Some get lost in the rhythm of / A steel horse lullaby
Ride away
Saddle up that rocky mountain highway
It's a sweet song / So dream on
A steel horse lullaby
Sometimes trains they don't come back / That's why it's called a one way track
You know a cowboy singer or a lumber jack / Can somehow make a livin’
There's a train comin’ around the bend / Driven by that prairie wind
That's just me fallin’ in love again / Meet me in the station
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: Contenders Two: Still in the Running
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
Rollin along / Through the dust and the gravel
Spinning our wheels / Every road we travel
If we can still bring a tear / With the songs that we’re strumin’
Bring a laugh or a smile / It’s worth every mile
Cause we’re still in the runnin’
Another twist in the trail / What does it matter
We’re not runnin’ for gold / That’s not what we’re after
Just to be in the dance / Sharing these moments
Every high every low / It’s all in the show
Cause we’re still in the runnin’
Saying goodbye / Drawing the curtains
House lights turned on / Everyone’s leavin’
Ah but we had us a time / Kinda wish we were stayin’
But more than one night / Just wouldn’t seem right
Cause we’re still in the runnin’
Writer: Unknown
Album: The Collection: Solo Acoustic
As I walked out in the streets of Laredo
As I walked out in Laredo one day
I spied a poor cowboy wrapped up in white linen
All wrapped in white linen as cold as the clay
"I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy"
These words he did say as I proudly stepped by
"Come sit down beside me and hear my sad story
I'm shot in the breast and I know I must die
“Twas once in the saddle I used to go ridin'
Once in the saddle I used to go gay
First lead to drinkin', and then to card-playing
I'm shot in the breast and I'm dying today
"Let six jolly cowboys come carry my coffin
Let six pretty gals come to carry my pall
Throw bunches of roses all over my coffin
Throw roses to deaden the clods as they fall
"Oh, beat the drum slowly, and play the fife lowly
And play the dead march as you carry me along
Take me to the green valley and lay the earth o'er me
For I'm a poor cowboy and I know I've done wrong"
We beat the drum slowly and played the fife lowly
And bitterly wept as we carried him along
For we all loved our comrade, so brave, young and handsome
We all loved our comrade although he done wrong
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Albums: The Collection: Solo Acoustic / Caragan Wind
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
A few words about this song ...
"Mom said we didn't have a horse named Nellie but her Grandma did and that justifies the song."
Gary
You and me Nellie/Back in our prime
We could turn on a nickel/Spin on a dime
We were green as the grass/Like new young vines
You and me Nellie/We just ran out of time
Oh Sweet Nellie/Your such a good old horse
You know times are tough/But then they could get worse
If your tail is south/We must be headin north
Take me home Sweet Nellie/Your such a good old horse
Well I had me a girl/In my drifter days
She was southern born/She was southern raised
While you rolled in the grass/We rolled in the hay
But I was gone in the morning/I couldn't change my ways
We've been over the mountains/Across the plains
Bent by the wind/Near drowned by the rain
You carried my body/You carried my pain
Oh Sweet Nellie/You were good on the rein
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Album: Grande Olde Ride
Publisher: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
Beyond the stairs / beyond the hall
The shadows rise / the shadows fall
She lives / behind those walls
On main street
She dreams / a young girls dreams
Ah those kisses / taste so sweet
Then burn / like kerosene
On main street
Chorus
She was born / beneath the sun
Like each / and everyone
Her life / had just begun
On main street
I wonder / if she's cryin’
In her heart / in her mind
It's all / a waste of time
On main street
The young and restless / on parade
So defiant / filled with rage
Starring on / the centre stage
On main street
She stands / beneath a light
Looking harder / than the night
Waiting for her / shinning knight
On main street
Chorus
Reprise
The sirens / scream with fear
Their echoes / disappear
In the silence / of the tears / she cries
On main street
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: The Collection: Solo Acoustic
Publisher: Helping Hand Music
I'd like to share old memories and talk about my hometown
She was a good time place thru a little boys eyes so amazed at what he saw
Like an Indian man with his hair in braids and a feather just for show
His black-eyed baby at his mama's breast by the stove in the general store
You could still get stuck on main street in the spring in a heavy rain
Play hide and seek in the alley in back of the Chinaman's caf’
And the farmer's wives went shoppin’ while the men folk spent some time
At a place they called the ten cent store cause a beer just cost a dime
And a fist fight just outside that door would always draw a crowd
It never once occurred to me why the women weren't allowed
He was ten years old and barefoot he never had a care
Mother natures keepin’ time she don't always keep it fair
Now I've got the time to write some lines bout the happy times I knew
And being ten years old and barefoot was the best that I could do
Now the barbershop and poolroom they were one and the very same
With a board across the barbers chair you could watch them play the game
Layin’ pennies on the railway tracks when the passenger came thru
And I swear that a thousand gophers stared down the barrel of my twenty-two
At hockey games and cowboy shows was our chance to make some noise
And I know that every friend I had thought the girls were the same as the boys
We didn't know bib overalls would someday be in style
Boredom was a word that I wouldn't know for quite awhile
So it don't matter where you live it don't matter where you die
Stay ten years old and barefoot until your eighty five
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: Contenders Two: Still in the Running
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
As I rode / Through a meadow / of Fire weed
I saw / The faint traces of / Wagon tracks
They followed the miners / Through the Caribou Hills
There were rumours of gold / To be found
In the ruts / I saw ghosts / of Wagon trains
The trail / Seemed almost / Impossible
They counted their losses / With grey wooden crosses
They were told / There was gold / To be found
You just picked it / Right up off the ground
Yellow fever / Must have give them the chills
Coming down with the fever / In the Caribou Hills
Yellow fever / It cures and it kills
Coming down with the fever / In the Caribou Hills
By a creek / In a cabin / A miner built
I found a torn / Yellow page / From his diary
He said gold I will bring / But I must wait for spring
It lies on the / Cold frozen ground
And the snow is pilled deep / At the cabin door
I burned up / My last stick / of firewood
I’m comin’ down with a fever / I just lie here and shiver
With visions of gold in my brain
The wind and the wolves / Call my name
Yellow fever / Must have give him the chills
As I rode / Through the creek / Clear water flowed
My horse kicked up stones / In a gravel bed
As my luck would have it / I found a shiny gold nugget
It was true / There was gold / To be found
I just picked it / Right up off the ground
Now I toil and I curse / In this useless old mine
No more gold nuggets / Not one did I find
Yellow fever / Gives me the chills
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Albums: Caragana Wind / Grande Olde Ride
Publisher: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
A few words about this song ...
"Life leaves a lot of scars that never quite disappear. That sounds a bit preachy I know but we've all got them. Hang in there for the long haul folks and keep that cowboy spirit."
Gary
Love can be locked up like treasure
Sometimes we can't find the key
But if love was a rule we could measure
There'd be more than we ever would need
But the words fly like poisoned tipped arrows
And the eyes flash with hard bitter tears
The barbs cut right through to the marrow
And the scars never quite disappear
We will stay for the long, long haul
Hang right in for the long, long haul
We will roll on/ down that old highway
Stay for the long, long haul
Hang right in/ For the long, long haul
Two hearts so silently breaking
They each blame the other in turn
Love could have been theirs for the taking
But the bridges were blackened and burned
All the beds we have chosen to lie on
Can either be roses or thorns
Sometime to weep and to cry on
Sometimes tender and warm
Writer: Mickey Newbury
Album: Contenders Two: Still in the Running
Publishers: Sony / ATV Acuff Rose Music SOCAN
Doggone my soul / How I love them old songs
They were a comfort to me / When I was alone
The dancing stops but the / Music goes on
Doggone my soul / How I love them old songs
Ah when I hear that / Double eagle guitar
Makes me think / How trouble free girl we are
There was a time / I spent my nights in a bar
Playin’ that old juke box / Until the honky tonk got locked up
Doggone my mind / It just won’t leave me alone
Keeps on reminding me / I’m so far from home
Those heartbeakin’ / achin’ / Eggs and bacon country songs
Well they take me back to / Hardwood floors / Outdoor johns and mason jars
It’s all I can do / To believe that it’s gone
That hard knockin’ / Rock and rollin’ / Life that I’ve known
The dancing stops but the music must go on
Doggone my soul / How I love then old songs
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard, Nathan Tinkham / SOCAN
Album: Grande Olde Ride
Publishers: Slim Creek Music / Rhythm Range Music / SOCAN
There's a train a comin’
Comin thru the wilderness
A train a comin’ thru the wilderness
There's a train a comin’
Got big wheels a hummin
A train a comin’ thru the wilderness
The hammers ring, the hammers pound
Twin ribbons of steel gonna lay ‘em down
Cross the Big Plateau to a Yukon town
Twin ribbons of steel gonna lay ‘em down
Over a hundred years ago
A line was built from coast to coast
Now were layin’ steel for the Iron Horse
From the 49 to the Great White North
The Yukon River hauled the ore
But the paddle wheels turn no more
So we'll snake her up to the Arctic Shore
And the mighty wheels will roll
Writers: Valdy & Doris Mason
Album: Contenders Two: Still in the Running
Publishers: Well Written Songs, Big Shore Music, Stony Plain Records / SOCAN
They been out playin’ hockey / They were a hungry bunch
So Dave took the kids in / For a bite of lunch
This VLT was there / Clangin’ and chirpin’
No one was playin’ / It was really disturbin’
So Dave pulled the plug / On the VLT
Dave pulled the plug / On the VLT
That’s the video lottery terminal
Dave pulled the plug / On the VLT
Somewhere in New Brunswick / An alarm went off
The guard sat up so fast / He spilled his coffee
Bells were ringing / Lights were blinking red
This has never happened before / He said
When that plug came out and / The jangling abated
The waitress looked sharply / Up from her plate
Pulling the plug is strictly forbid
And Dave pulled that sucker / Right off of the grid
If you ask me / Dave’s a hero / For seeing / An annoyance stop
It was a good solution / To noise pollution
But try to tell that / To the cops
Who came racing in / Expecting a riot
And here was this family / Eating real quiet
We can do it too / We oughta try it
They tell us were locked in / But I don’t buy it
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Album: Caragana Wind
Publishers: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
A few words about this song ...
"It's a waltz, you don't have to hang on every word. Just dance. Well, there could be a couple of questions after so best to listen a bit."
Gary
An old fashioned waltz / The old country hall
We had our first dance / I remember it well
Someone opened the door / Let in the moon
We whirled round the floor
Ignored every one in the room
Falling in love
We were out waltzing / with a whisper of love
An old fashioned whisper of love
A family band / Played on and on
We danced every dance / To familiar old songs
Every young cowboy / Knew you were mine
They still took their chances
Patiently waiting in line
Hoping to have
Just one slow dance and a / Whisper of love
An old fashioned whisper of love
Then I took you home / As proud as can be
Would you spend your life / With a cowboy like me
Look at us now / Holdin on tight
Still making plans
To go dancing on Saturday night
Still so in love
We'll go out waltzing with a / Whisper of love
An old fashioned whisper of love
Writers: Gary Fjellgaard / SOCAN
Album: Grande Olde Ride
Publishers: Slim Creek Music / SOCAN
In the wild days
In the wild wild days
With an old rag top 51 Ford
Half customized / half rust
In the wild days
On a Saturday night
Followin’ the leader
Through the trails / through the pines
Singin’ just like Elvis
Howlin’ at the moon
And we were just the coolest / of the coo-oo-oo-ool
In the wild days with you
I get lonesome
For those wild days with you
When I think about that first kiss
When puppy love / was so true
Testosterone
And hormones
Kickin’ like a young colt
Kick us both again and again / the wild days
Howlin’ at the moon
We were just the coolest of the coo-oo-oo-ool
In those wild days with you
We are still the coolest of the coo-oo-oo-ool
In these wild days with you
Writer: Mickey Newbury
Album: Contenders Two: Still in the Running
Publishers: Sony / ATV Acuff Rose Music / SOCAN
You only live once / In awhile
So let’s live for the day / We’re alive
Between the first step / And the last mile
We only live once / In awhile
The hobo has taken / The last milk train home
The blue bird has packed up / Her singing and gone
My lady and me / Will be up for the dawn
We only live once / In awhile
See the willow / How she catches the wind
Following me / Down the road / Round the bend
Over the years / She has taught me my friends
That we only live once / In awhile
Writer: Gary Fjellgaard
Album: The Collection: Solo Acoustic
Publisher: Slim Creek Music
Zane Grey / You're my hero
I lived every line / You ever wrote / Back on the farm
Zane Grey / It's all over
But we had us a time / A good time / Back on the Farm
I was prairie born and prairie raised
I read every book by Zane Grey
He wrote down every dream I had / Some have never changed
I rode bareback on an old white horse
Thought I was riding Silver
From Texas up to Abilene / We crossed those dusty plains
When the bank got robbed in Santa Fe
When the bandits crossed the border
I tracked them down in Mexico / Not one of them survived
When the desperadoes took the girl
When they held her up for ransom
I rode to the rescue guns ablaze / I took her back alive
Now the Riders of the Purple Sage
Are just Shadows on the Trail
The Vanishing Americans
Just up and rode away
We hope you enjoy reading the lyrics as you listen to Gary's music.
If you're able to pick up an instrument and play along, all the better!