American Remains

[Verse 1]
I am a shotgun rider
For the San Jacinto line
The desert is my brother
My skin is cracked and dry
I was riding on a folk coach
And everything was fine
Till we took a shorter road
To save some time
The bandits only fired once
They shot me in the chest
They may have wounded me but
They’ll never get the best
Of better men
Cause I’ll ride again

[Verse 2]
I am a river gambler
I make a living dealing cards
My clothes are smooth and honest
My heart is cold and hard
I was shuffling for some delta boys
On a boat for New Orleans
I was the greatest shark they’d ever seen
But the captain bumped a sandbar
And an ace fell from my sleeve
They threw me overboard
As I swore I didn’t cheat
But I could swim
And I’ll ride again

[Chorus]
We are heroes of the homeland, American remains
We live in many faces and answer many names
We will not be forgotten, we won’t be left behind
Our memories live on in mortal minds
And poets pens
We’ll ride again

[Verse 3]
I am a mid-west farmer
I make a living off the land
I ride a John Deere tractor
I’m a liberated man
But the rain it hasn’t fallen
Since the middle of July
And if it don’t come soon my crops will die
The bank man says he likes me
But there’s nothing he can do
He tells me that he’s coming
But the clouds are coming too
He ain’t my friend
And I’ll ride again

[Verse 4]
I am an American Indian
My tribe is Cherokee
My forefathers loved this land
They left it here for me
But the white man came with boats
And trains and dirty factories
An’ poisoned my existence with his deeds
Nature is our mother
We are sucklings at her breast
And he who tries to beat her down
Will lose her to the rest
They’ll never win
I’ll ride again