This song was conceived, in 1996, while viewing the small cliffs along the Guadalupe River, on the western edge of Central Texas. I remember invoking the spirit of Townes Van Zandt (and consuming large quantities of spirits) as I worked on the final verses. The song became starkly contrasted with other aspects of life, during a visit to family and friends in Michigan later that year. On a bus trip to a night game at Tiger Stadium in downtown Detroit, I passed the industrial plants and environmental pollution I'd seen on my daily commute from the suburbs to a Catholic high school I attended in the city center in the mid-1960s.
The cliffs of the Guadalupe are carved from thin air
Reflected in waters that lead to nowhere
Stripped of all culture like a heavenly stair
In an everyday mystical musing laid bare
The ranchers and oilers have gotten their share
Filled her with signs saying you can’t go there
Circling vultures devour their fare
It’s an everyday mystical musing laid bare
What have I sacrificed, who will I be
Fooling myself, living dangerously
Who have I sacrificed, what will I be
Telling myself, that I’m trying to be free
In cars on our cell phones we carve up our days
And drive through this hell of a concrete highway
The earth and the sky form a permanent haze
And we don’t realize that we live in a maze
What have I sacrificed, who will I be
Fooling’ myself, living dangerously
Who have I sacrificed, what will I be
Telling myself, that I’m trying, to be free
So I sit by the banks of this river and stare
The swift and the mockingbird dart here and there
Most graceful of herons reminds me to care
In an everyday mystical musing laid bare
And the cliffs of the Guadalupe are carved, from thin air
credits
from Levon Bus Travels,
released October 9, 2020
Levon Bus - Vocal, rhythm guitar
Jimmy George - Keyboards (piano & organ)
Mo Pair – Bass, vocal harmony
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