From the recording Frontier
My deep love for western folk music is reflected in the fact that each album contains a traditional song. This traditional tune is beloved in my home state of Texas. I was asked to perform this song for the famous horse trainer, Buster Welch. I got to see the words of this song play out in his eyes as I sang it for him. The beautiful fiddle work in this arrangement is by Seth Weil, who did all of the fiddle work for this album. He had laid down several tracks for us to pull from in the final mix, but in a happy accident, all of his tracks just magically worked together at the end of the song.
Lyrics
In the lobby of a big hotel in New York town one day, sat a bunch of fella’s telling yarns to pass the time away. They told of places they had been and different things they’ve seen. Some preferred Chicago and others New Orleans.
In the corner, in an armchair, sat a man whose hair was gray. He sat and listened carefully to each word they had to say. They asked him where he’d like to be and his clear old voice did ring, “I’d like to be in Texas, in the roundup in the Spring.”
I can see the cattle grazing over the hills at early morn and I can see the campfire smoking at the breaking of the dawn and I can hear the broncos neighing, I can hear the cowboys sing and I’d like to be in Texas for the roundup in the Spring.
They sat and listened carefully to each word he had to say. They knew the old man sitting there had been a top hand in his day. They asked him for a story of his time out on the range. Slowly he removed his hat and quietly began.
I seen them stampede over the hills till you’d think they’d never stop. I seen them run for miles and miles till their leaders dropped. I was foreman of a cow ranch that’s the calling of a king and I’d like to be in Texas for the roundup in the Spring.
I’d like to sleep my last long sleep with Mother Earth for a bed. My sadddle for a pillow the bright stars overhead. Then I could hear the last stampede and the songs the rivers sing way back down in Texas for the roundup in the Spring.