Call Of The West
Stan Ridgway

He got the high sign so he jumped a bus
Along the roads that wind on through
The hot mojave and the jericho
He'd start his whole life anew
And what he left behind he hadn't valued
Half as much as some things
He never knew

Right around sundown...
He got dropped off on a street in town
Where a grey old man looked him up and down and said
son, this ain't no western movie matinee
You're a long way off from yippie-yi-yay
'cause I can tell at a glance you're not from 'round these parts
You've got a green look about'cha¨c¨cthat's a gringo for starts
Sometimes the only thing a western savage understands
Are whiskey and rifles and an unarmed man
Like you


so you gotta keep on the move!
Don't let that fancy paint job fool you!
Then the old timer pulled him close and said


You've got a long way, I know
You've got a longer drive ahead
Through the bones of the buffalo
Through the claims of the western dead, and¨c¨c
Just like the spokes of a wheel
You'll spin 'round with the rest
You'll hear the drums and the brush of steel
You'll hear the call of the west, call of the west
You'll hear the call of the west, call of the west


Spoken
Harshly awakened by the sound of six rounds of light-caliber rifle fire
Followed minutes later by the booming of nine rounds from a heavier rifle
But you can't close off the wilderness
He heard the snick of a rifle bolt
And found himself peering down the muzzle
Of a weapon held by a drunken liquor store owner
there's a conflict, he said, there's a conflict
Between land and people
The people have to go
They've come all the way out here to make mining claims
To do automobile body work
To gamble
Take pictures
To not have to do laundry
To own a mini-bike
Have their own cb radios and air conditioning
Good plumbing for sure
And to sell time/life books and to work in a deli
To have a little chili every morning
And maybe... maybe to own their own gas stations again
And take drugs
Have some crazy sex
But above all, above all, to have a fair shake
To get a piece of the rock and a slice of the pie
And spit out of the window of your car and not have the wind blow it back in your face


Now, from the high timberline to the deserts dry
Who'll risk dangling on some hangman's tree
To stake their claims on these prarie plains
While they say this lunch is not had for free?
Just like the spokes of a wheel
Who'll spin 'round with the rest
They'll hear the drums and the brush of steel
And I'll hear the call of the west, call of the west
(yippie-yi-yo, yippie-yi-yo-ki-yay, yippie-yi-yo-ohh-ohh)
I'll hear the call of the west, call of the west
(yippie-yi-yo, yippie-yi-yo-ki-yay, yippie-yi-yo-ohh-ohh)
I'll hear the call of the west, call of the west
(yippie-yi-yo, yippie-yi-yo-ki-yay, yippie-yi-yo-ohh-ohh)
I'll hear the call of the west, call of the west
(yippie-yi-yo, yippie-yi-yo-ki-yay, yippie-yi-yo-ohh-ohh)


Spoken/shouted:
I used to be somebody!
I used to be somebody, do you hear me?
Do you hear me? I've been there!
I used to be somebody, God damn you!
I've been there before!
Don't walk away!
Well, you¨c¨cyou wanted unleaded?
Unleaded¨c¨cthat's next pump over, so keep on movin', okay?
No, it's out of order.


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Lyrics by Stan Ridgway

  A Mission in Life   Afghan/ForKlift   Afghan\/ForKlift   After the Storm   Amnesia   An Act Of Faith   Animal Day   As I Went Out One Morning   Back In Flesh   Back Towards Diamond Bar   Bel Air Blues   Beloved Movie Star   Beloved Movie Star Redux   Beyond Tomorrow   Big American Problem   Big Dumb Town   Bing Can't Walk   Bing Can't Walk ('cause Bob Broke Both His Legs)   Brand New Special And Unique   Call Box   Call Box (1-2-3)   Calling Out to Carol   Camouflage   Can't Complain   Can't Make Love   Can't Stop The Show   Cannon Song   Cannon Song (aka Army Song)   Classic Hollywood Ending   Crack The Bell   Crow Hollow Blues   Crystal Palace   Deep Blue Polka Dot   Deep Inside We're Blue   Dogs   Don't Box Me In   Don't Drop The Soap   Don't Drop The Soap (For Anyone Else But Me)   Down the Coast Highway   Drive She Said   Drive, She Said   End Of An Era   End of the Line   End of the Line [*]   Factory   Floundering   Foggy River   Free Of It All   Full Of Tension   Funzone   Garage Band '69   God Sleeps In A Caboose   Goin' Southbound   Gone the Distance   Good Times   Hands Of Love   Harry Truman   Hear That Bird   Heat Takes a Walk   Hell In A Handbasket   Highway Song   I Wanna Be A Boss   Into The Sun   Invisible Man   Jack Talked   Jack Talked (like A Man On Fire)   King For A Day   Knife and Fork   Lonely Town   Longarm   Look At Their Way   Lost Weekend   Luther Played Guitar   Mama Had A Stove   Man of Stone   Me And My Dad   Mexican Radio   Mission Bell   Monsters of the Id   Mr. Smith   My Exclusive Sex Club   My Own Universe   My Rose Marie (A Soldier's Tale)   Nadine   Neon Mirage [Instrumental]   New Blue Mercedes   Newspapers   Old Bent Coin   Only A Hobo   Operator Help Me   Our Manhattan Moment   Overlords   Peg and Pete and Me   Picasso's Tear   Pick It Up   Pick It Up (And Put It In Your Pocket)   Pick It Up And Put It In Your Pocket   Pile Driver   Pink Parakeet   Police Call   Red Light   Right Through You   Ring Of Fire   Ring Of Fire (Single Edit)   Rio Greyhound [Instrumental]   Running With The Carnival   Salesman   Sixteen Tons   Snaketrain   Spy World   Stormy Side Of Town   Stranded   Susie Before Sunrise   Talk Hard   Talkin\u00b4 Wall Of Voodoo Blues Pt.1   That Big 5-0   The Big Heat   The Can't Stop The Show   The Gumbo Man   The Last Honest Man   The Man In The Long Black Coat   The Overlords   The Passenger   The Roadblock   They Don't Want Me   This Way Out   Throw It Away   Time Inside   Time Wave Zero   Tomorrow   Train Of Thought   Triangle Head   Tse Tse Fly   Twisted   Two Minutes Till Lunch   Uba's House Of Fashions   Underneath the Big Green Tree   Valerie Is Sleeping   Wake Up Sally   Walkin' Home Alone   Whatever Happened To You?   Whistle For Louise   Wild Bill Donovan   Your Rockin\u00b4Chair

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