Bruce Springsteen : Inyo

Over the washes of the Big and Little Tujunga Above the Mojave in a two-horse buckboard Bill Mulholland, Fred Eaton set out for the Owens River Valley In the fall of 1904 Through the Tehachapi, up along the Sierra Nevada Through the Green Valley towards the Owens River mouth They come to bring that Owens River water Two hundred miles to the desert city south Ain't you feelin' dry? Ain't you feelin' dry now? My brother, ain't you feelin' dry? I was a blaster in the black hole of Elizabeth Hard rock tunneled five miles of the coast range In the black mud, we drilled and set the charges Blew through that mountain in just a thousand days Owens River water for the Queen of Angels From the heavens of the High Sierra packed snow Owens River water for the children of the Queen of Angels Make rich the land syndicate of the San Fernando Ain't you feelin' dry? Ain't you feelin' dry now? My brother, ain't you feelin' dry? My uncle pushed the Paiute from their valley Cut out his homestead in blood And pulled crops out the desert sand Then the south, they come to share our water 'Cause the south was thirsty, my friend Come the drought of '19, they started pumpin' Water from the Owens table underground Our big cottonwoods died, our ranches, they went dry The green fields, they blew dusty and brown I set the first charges for the ranchers in '24 Fired the fuse on two hundred pounds of dynamite Blew a hole in that aqueduct I'd helped build Sent thunder rollin' out across the desert night Ain't you feelin' dry? Ain't you feelin' dry now? My brother, ain't you feelin' dry? Sacramento, the Kern, the Colorado The King, the San Joaquin, my friend For the power, for the water, for the prosperity And for the men with the money in the end Tonight the Santa Ana's drawin' west across the Mojave Blowin' fire and dust onto LA County windowsills Bill Mulholland, Fred Eaton's dead in their graves The Queen of Angels, she remains thirsty still Ain't you feelin' dry? Ain't you feelin' dry now? My brother, ain't you feelin' dry? Ain't you feelin' dry? Ain't you feelin' dry now? My good brother, ain't you feelin' dry?

'Cross the desert, the rain came hard and black Two shovel-heads rumblin' 'cross the railroad track Sheriff steps out of his car, takes off his hat And slowly looks around Ostrich boots and a diamond ring Scar on his cheek too deep to think He steps up to the bar, orders a drink I watch him as he shoots it down I was just eighteen down in Indian Town Billy was workin' as a hired hand He was a Hopi in off the First Mesa Weekends, we'd head into town for a drink and a dance A little trouble and a look around A woman with hair black as coal and eyes of blue Stood in the street over a young kid with his leg shot through Sheriff pushes his way through Shakes his head as he looks down Well, in the spring, we'd ride the high desert Through Seligman and Kingman on old 66 Make the poker run through Bullhead City Into Laughlin and back around Well, I welded it outta cast iron, just like his ride Stuck it into the ground where he died Marked on it his name and the day he was born And the day he went down On that white stretch of road outside of Indian Town Well, it was closing time, I was drunk And she was somebody's wife I was drunk, too drunk to see the knife I felt a push, and I was on my back Ceiling black and comin' down

Capo:

I

A

D

A

In the High Sierras, camped were the soldiers

D

And a young soldada who valiantly fought

A

D

Side by side with Francisco Villa

A

Adelita Far from my home now, a Texacan soldier It's not for fortune or risk to the battlefield I fight I fell in love with Adelita with my very soul We'll stand in arms this night She said, "Johnny, if I should die in battle And my body be left in the Sierranea My love, my love, in God's name Fight on, and remember me

A

That my blood will not have been spilled in vain" On horseback, a carbine full and at her side Over her blouse, cartridges filled her bandoleras Side by side, into battle we rode, Villistas My Adelita We met the enemy in the Zamoran mountains From their bullets, many of our soldiers died And wounded, I lay fallen with my comrades As Adelita stood above us

D

A

Firing her rifle 'til the gunpowder turned her hand black And the sky was blue, 'neath the cannon the earth trembled Watched as a bullet pierced my love's side She fell amidst the brothers and sisters Smoke and empty sky in her eyes Adelita, my love, Adelita, my wife Adelita, my comrade, my life They'll remember your name when freedom fills the Sierranea

A

E

A

I'll remember the warmth of your skin against mine

A

D

A

D

A

D

A

Tonight, I lay in the mountains with the campesinos

D

My mind at peace from the vows I've made

A

D

A

I know I'll never see Texas again Your portrait I carry deep in my breast pocket My rifle firing into the campana, I ride with you 'round my heart Protected from this death by beauty

A

D

A

D

A

D

A

E

A

D

A

D

A

D

A

D

A

D

A

D

The boys, they hold their machetes high Girls in their satin dresses, they go twirlin' by From the San Juan River 'cross the desert sand Teresa moves in the Aztec dance From the foothills of the Sierra Madre To a high school gym in San Jose She stomps her feet as her ma watches from the stands Teresa twirls in the Aztec dance Past the Pizza Hut, past the mall rats, she says "Ma, they call us "greaser", they call us "wetback" Here in this land that once was ours" Teresa's mother bobby pins her hair in a crown of flowers Her mother says, "Teresa, there were roses, fruit trees and azure skies Tenochtitlan with great temples of stone Indian women with your skin and your eyes Gardens richer than those of Babylon "'Cross the causeway of Lake Texcoco Montezuma met Cortez in sandals with soles of gold One in steel, one in the plumes of the quetzal bird They came wearing the masks of the gods they served "From castles that rend the waters and scarred the skies Cortez came with the curse of fortune and faith in his eyes They marched 'cross savannas of maize and high desert plains Quetzalcoatl come to put the lord of our world in chains With cannon and horses 'cross the causeways, their cavalry charged Like fields of locust feastin' on a thousand brave warriors' hearts Our blood turned red, the waters of Texcoco Spanish soldiers drowned 'neath the weight of the gold they stole "Montezuma and Cuauhtemoc are in their graves And our people of the valley of Mexico, well, they were enslaved City gone and left in ruins, they cry bitter tears in another world But here in this world, my daughter, they have you" Well, the boys, they hold their machetes high As the girls in their satin dresses, they go twirlin' by

Godmother, when I die Make of my clay a jar And when you are thirsty, drink from it And if you feel a shadow A shadow touching your lips It's the kisses of your charro Pull the leather strip from your hair And your black tresses fall upon The dark skin of your shoulders Your dress embroidered with gold Moved like a choir of young girls Scarcely touching the ground My rope winds as the smoke rises Burning the horn of my saddle My rope winds as the evening sun sets And we bring in the cattle The traditions of the charro Are the same eternally No matter how much the horse changes No matter how much the horseman may want Cola is always the cola The terna, the terna, pial, pial My rope winds as the smoke rises Burning the horn of my saddle My rope winds as the evening sun sets And we bring in the cattle For two seasons, I've picked the lettuce in Salinas The prunes in Santa Clara The oranges from the Ontario trees I've traded in my leather For the denim of my campesinos Godmother, I'll return home soon, you'll see And tonight in my dreams My rope winds as smoke rises Burning the horn of my saddle My rope winds as the evening sun sets And we bring in the cattle Godmother, when I die Make of my clay a jar And when you are thirsty, drink from it Li li li li li, li li li li Li li li li li, li li li li Li li li li li, li li li li Li li li li li, li li li li Li li li li li, li li li li Li li li li li, li li li li Li li li li li, li li li li Li li li li li, li li li li li

Capo:

III

G

C

D/f#

He's out of Newark, a retired detective

D

G

Tryin' to lose some of what he'd seen

C

D

He had twenty-five years on the streets

D

G

Where the Lord does not intervene

G

D/f#

Packed his shaving kit into a small suitcase

D

G

Slipped the rosary off the night shelf

C

D

Just the cross remains of his faith

D

G

Was all that he had left

C

G

D

And the pale sun of the evening

G

Cut through the windshield as he drove

D

Head south on the Jersey Turnpike

G

To the Lady of Monroe

C

G

D

He and his wife, they'd raised a daughter

G

But his job was all he'd ever really known

C

D

Now she was in southern Indiana

G

With a family her own

C

D

As the refinery fields went rushing by

G

Thought of his little brown-eyed girl

C

D

Shooting cans in the river with his old .22

G

As the summer trees unfurled

C

G

D

And the pale sun of the evening

G

Slipped down, velvet and low

C

D

Heard murmured prayers softly rising

G

To the Lady of Monroe

C

G

D

His rosary hung from the rear-view mirror

G

A map 'neath the Burger King bag in the front seat

C

D

His gun's tucked deep in the glove box

G

Another useless tool of his trade he'll never need

C

G

D

From his desk in the South precinct

G

He'd walked that dirty mile

C

D

Well, that was all over now

G

He was gonna learn to live, just to live for a while

C

G

D

Virgin Mother, give me peace

G

Peace I've never known

C

G

D

In the sunlight, lifted hands softly swaying

G

To our Lady of Monroe

C

G

D

G

I wake and take your picture from my night table With a kiss, I place it on the shelf Give you my mornin' prayer It's a weakness I allow myself In the kitchen, I make the coffee As the sun's first light through the window streams I wake your brother Roberto from his dreams Throw my tools in the truck bed From the San Fernando into the hills As the gray morning clouds Over the hilltop stream I follow 'em down The cool rich canyons of grain And my mind drifts to you From the northern mountains The water comes and the city blooms The Santa Ana's breathe so dry and dusty Through the villa rooms Bougainvillea blossom Red and white 'round the entry door And the roses rise so perfectly on the desert floor Your memory is my desire Daughter, if my sorrow is my sin With my work here in this garden We'll both live again I trim the eucalyptus That her branches may be free, my love That the wind may find a way Through the dark sky above That day your mother On the porch waiting Now I watch the branches drifting And my heart fills with you At night I feel your spirit As the day's weariness I embrace I visit you in the brave beauty of your mother's sleeping face Now, Ramona Hey, when the dark comes driftin' in And these rooms lie sweetened by the dry desert wind Tell me how How will my heart ever mend If I can never touch you or feel your breath again In my dreams, the earth to which I have given you Opens below me where I stand I slip beneath the moist soil Through the cool dust and desert sand I hold your face, I hold your face in my hands Wake early in the morning Today I'll cut the roses from their stems

I was bringin' in their cocaine 'Cross the Texas-Mexico line They don't like what I was doin' But I lose no sleep at night I was just runnin' off an old debt Then I'd take some time And find someplace far away Heaven to hell, my friends Just a short jump in the stakes And one false move's all it takes On the streets of south Texas I made my straight time Workin' nights and pissin' in a cup For my man down on State Now I roll down the window And let in the cool, clear desert night And that cold feelin' of my luck runnin' out You get just so much dry ground 'Fore the water rushes over the breaks And one false move's all it takes Got a son in El Paso I couldn't find the steady ground You run outta room and answers And your old mistakes start comin' 'round Five years in Tamaulipas Make you sick inside The way you get used to anything Sooner or later, it just becomes your life Headlights flashin' cross my face The sound of a pilgrim's horn fadin' south I reach 'neath the seat in the dark Then come that dry taste in my mouth Above the black stars wheelin' Inside's that sick, warm, sinkin' feeling Taillights movin' through the high desert pine Someone waitin' in the hills 'neath the shadow line You get your measure of daylight 'Fore the evenin' that waits Just one false move away

Tuning: DADGBE (Drop D)

D

C

/a

G

I have a daughter as beautiful as the evening sun

G

C

D

We traveled north where we heard there was work to be done

D

C

/a

G

She vanished into the streets of the city of death

C

D

C

D

The city of my lost heart, Ciudad Juarez The drugs flow north across the river, the guns flow south The blood flows here from the devil's mouth Here at the devil's mouth, our daughters are bled Give me back my lost heart, Ciudad Juarez

Instrumental verse

C

D

We come north to the maquiladoras

C

D

Made the colonias our home

C

D

Morning sun fell on her skin

D

Then gone I have my pistol of vengeance and reclaim I have my bullets of our blood and name My blood, I carry your picture here at my breast Picture of my lost soul, Ciudad Juarez Daughter, I carry your picture here at my breast Picture of my lost heart, Ciudad Juarez

G

When I build my beautiful house

C

G

I'll build it high, high above this road

C

G

This road I walk in shadow and doubt

G

D

G

There I'll build my beautiful house When I build my beautiful house I'll build it high on that rocky hill Where pain and memory have been stilled There I'll build my beautiful house

C

G

Down here below, baby, nothing lasts

G

D

Love and great stone mansions turn to dust and ash

G

Past all this, I walk along

D

G

Somethin' stronger than my own children movin' me on

Violin solo over verse chords

I walk with a hammer and a fiery lantern With this I build, and with this I burn These things I carry on my dark road And so it goes, and so it goes When I build my beautiful house I'll build it high on that rocky hill Where pain and memory have been stilled There I'll build my beautiful house

Bruce Springsteen : Inyo
1995

Inyo

Indian Town

Adelita

The Aztec Dance

The Lost Charro

Our Lady Of Monroe

El Jardinero (Upon The Death Of Ramona)

One False Move

Ciudad Juarez

When I Build My Beautiful House

Bruce Springsteen : Inyo 1995