Rhymes from the Silver State March 2019
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Rhymes From The Silver State -historical lyrics The lore of common culture in northern Nevada. Colorful! By CW BAYER ™ nevadamusic ™ © 2014 CW BAYER The cover: The first Piper’s Opera House, D Street, Virginia City. Visit www.nevadamusic.com for books and music. !2 Visit: nevadamusic.com for more books and CDs. ! INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................6 CALIFORNIA AS IT IS, 1849 ....................................................................................................................7 ARRIVAL OF THE GREENHORN, 1854 ................................................................................................9 BOUND FOR THE LAND OF WASHOE, 1863 .....................................................................................11 BALDY GREEN, 1865 ..............................................................................................................................12 EXCELSIOR, 1866 ....................................................................................................................................14 THE ARTFUL JERKER, 1868 .................................................................................................................16 THE COLLOQUY OF THE OLD TIMERS, C.1868 .............................................................................17 THE DAYS OF '49, 1868 ...........................................................................................................................28 THE WASHOE CANARY, 1871 ...............................................................................................................30 FIRE IN THE TUNNEL, 1872 .................................................................................................................32 ARE YOU A HOOD-A-LUM, 1872.......................................................................................................... 34 OSCEOLA, 1877 ........................................................................................................................................35 CHICKEN TOMALES, 1879 ...................................................................................................................37 THE PRINCESS WEIMAR, 1879 ...........................................................................................................39 SILVER JACK’S RELIGION, C.1885 ....................................................................................................43 THE MINER’S SOLILOQUY, 1888 ........................................................................................................45 THE BOLD BUCCAROO, 1889 ..............................................................................................................47 OUT OF CARSON, 1892 ..........................................................................................................................48 LAKE TAHOE GIVES NOT UP HER DEAD, 1894 ..............................................................................49 THE MIRACULOUS BULL, 1894 ..........................................................................................................50 COUSIN JACK, C.1895 ............................................................................................................................56 SOUTHERN KLONDIKE, 1900 ..............................................................................................................57 THE FELLER I WAS SORRY FOR, 1901 ..............................................................................................59 THE HIGHGRADER, C.1905 ..................................................................................................................61 THE LURE OF THE SAGEBRUSH, 1904 .............................................................................................62 BY THE TRUCKEE, 1905 ........................................................................................................................64 !3 Visit: nevadamusic.com for more books and CDs. ! THE MINING ENGINEER’S SONG, 1909 ............................................................................................65 BACKIN JIM, 1909 ...................................................................................................................................66 MORNIN ON THE DESERT, 1910 .........................................................................................................69 I’M ON MY WAY TO RENO, 1910 .........................................................................................................70 CASEY JONES, 1911 ................................................................................................................................71 MORN ON THE PRAIRIE, 1912 ............................................................................................................73 THE COLONY, 1912 .................................................................................................................................74 THE GIRL OF THE SAGEBRUSH STATE, 1914 .................................................................................75 THE LAST TRIP, 1917 .............................................................................................................................77 THE CALL OF THE AMBULANCE, 1917 ............................................................................................79 TONOPAH, 1918 .......................................................................................................................................80 THE DESERT RAT, 1919 .........................................................................................................................81 SONG OF THE DEATH VALLEY PROSPECTORS, 1919 ..................................................................83 ROUND-UP POEM, 1922 .........................................................................................................................85 AFTER LEWIS CARROLL, 1924 ...........................................................................................................87 THE WHY OF ITCHIN’ FEET, 1924 ......................................................................................................88 THE DESERT RAT, 1924 .........................................................................................................................90 A CHRISTMAS EVE DREAM, 1924 ......................................................................................................92 HARD ROCK DANN, 1925 ......................................................................................................................93 JUST A MEMORY—OF SOMEONE I’VE TRUSTED, 1927 ..............................................................95 WAGON TRAMPS ON THE CARSON SINK, 1929 .............................................................................96 MORNING DEW, 1929 .............................................................................................................................98 US OLD BOYS ON BOULDER DAM, 1931 ........................................................................................100 US OLD SCABS ON BOULDER DAM, 1932 ......................................................................................102 HOME MEANS NEVADA, 1932 ............................................................................................................104 DEATH VALLEY CURLEY, 1934 .........................................................................................................106 IN MEMORIUM TO WHISKEY PETE, 1934 .....................................................................................107 THE DIVORCEE’S SOLILOQUY 1938 ...............................................................................................108 !4 Visit: nevadamusic.com for more books and CDs. ! THE LONE TREE, ‘50S. ........................................................................................................................109 PORTRAIT OF NEVADA,‘60S ..............................................................................................................110 THE RUSTY OLD FORD CAR, ‘70S? ..................................................................................................111 BOOKS BY CW BAYER ........................................................................................................................113 ENDNOTES ..............................................................................................................................................114 !5 Visit: nevadamusic.com for more books and CDs. ! INTRODUCTION Here are examples of lyric from an earlier time, all of it using old styles of meter and rhyme. These words say a great deal about the mythology of the silver State—about what ordinary people thought was happening at different times. From 1849 through most of the 19th century, in Nevada, “western” meant mining and mining culture. About the turn of the 20th century, this softened and expanded into a mythology of “sage and pine” as well as the “desert rat.” To some extent, this belied Reno’s embrace of the sin industry—divorce, booze, gambling. That story is in my book, “Reno’s Jazz Hysteria.” Then, during the mid-30s, as described in that book, Nevada redefined “western” as “cowboy”. The contradictions inherent to that final mythology continue to this day. Nevadans live midst institutionalized contradictions—a severe contrast between a sin industry and a natural paradise. I sometimes wonder if modern