After a concert in 2005, the group was spotted by Jérôme Deschamps and Macha Makeïeff, who would later co-produced their first album with Naïve Records. At the same time, they won the Prix Paris Jeunes Talents.
The group was noticed during a concert at the Printemps de Bourges in 2006 and 2007. Jimmy, the first single from their first album Gee Whiz But This is A Lonesome Town (2007), was a success which allowed Moriarty to play at La Cigale. The album sold more than 50,000 copies in a few months and was certified gold a year after its release. The group went on a long tour that took them to Canada, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, and England.
In 2008, Moriarty performed at the Soliday festival, Eurockéennes de Belfort, Francofolies de La Rochelle, and Fête de l'Humanité.
The group takes its inspiration from traditional Celtic music, country, and blues.
The group plays around one microphone during their concerts.
En 2008, Moriarty was one of 10 artists nominated for the Constantin prize.
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Buffalo Skinners
Moriarty Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There are not many verses, it will not detain you long.
It's concerning some young fellows who did agree to go
and spend one summer pleasantly of the range of the buffalo.
'Twas in the town of Jacksboro in the spring of Sev'nty three,
A man by the name of Crego came stepping up to me,
Saying, "How do you do, young fellow, and how would you like to goAnd spend one summer pleasantly on the range of the buffalo?"
It's me being out of employment, this to Crego I did say,
"This going out on the buffalo range depends upon the pay.
But if you will pay good wages and transportation, too,
I think, sir, I will go with you to the range of the buffalo."
"Yes, I will pay good wages, give transportation, too,
Provided you will go with me and stay the summer through,
But if you should grow homesick, come back to Jackboro,
I won't pay transportation from the range of the buffalo."
It's now our outfit was complete, seven able-bodied men,
With navy six and needle gun, our troubles did begin.
Our way it was a pleasant one, the route we had to go,
Until we crossed Pease River on the range of the buffalo.
It's now we've crossed Pease River, our troubles have begun.
The first dam tail I went to rip, Christ, how I cut my thumb!
While skinning the dam old stinkers our lives they had no show,
For the Indians watched to pick us off while skinning the buffalo.
He fed us on such sorry chuck I wished myself most dead,
It was old jerked beef, croton coffee and sour bread.
Pease River's as salty as hell fire, the water I could never go
Oh God, I wished I had never come to the range of the buffalo.
Our meat it was buffalo hump and iron wedge bread,
And all we had to sleep on was a buffalo robe for a bed.
The fleas and gray backs worked on us, oh boys, it was not slow,
I'll tell you there's no worse hell on earth than the range of the buffalo.
Our hearts were cased with buffalo hocks, our souls were cased with steel.
And the hardships of that summer would nearly make us reel.
While skinning the damned old stinkers our lives they had no show.
For the Indians waited to pick us off on the Hills of Mexico.
The season being near over, old Grego he did say,
The crowd had been extravagant, was in debt to him that day,
We coaxed him and we begged him and still it was no go.
We left old Crego's bones to bleach on the range of the buffalo.
Oh, it's now we've crossed Pease River and homeward we are bound,
No more in that hell-fired country shall ever be found.
Go home to our wives and sweethearts, tell others not to go,
For God's forsaken the buffalo range and the damned old buffalo.
The song “Buffalo Skinners” was first sung in the late 1800s and is a traditional American folk song. It tells the story of a group of young men who agree to work as buffalo hunters for one summer in order to earn some money. The song begins with a jovial invitation for skinners to listen to the story. A man named Crego approaches the singer and asks him to join the buffalo range for the summer. The singer, being unemployed, agrees on the condition that he receives good pay and transportation. The story then goes on to describe the struggles and difficulties the group of hunters faced during the summer. Crossings of the Pease River, Indian conflict, poor food and lodgings, hard work, and illness are all mentioned in the song.
The last verse of the song tells of the hunters’ successful but troublesome venture, and their eventual return home. The last lines are a warning to others who may consider hunting buffalo in the future, urging them to stay away from the “damned old buffalo” range. The song effectively captures the physical and emotional struggles of buffalo hunting while painting a vivid picture of the hardworking and close-knit hunters who endured them. The song is a testament to the often-overlooked lives of nineteenth-century buffalo hunters.
Line by Line Meaning
Come all you jolly skinners, and listen to my song,
Listen up, you happy people who skin animals for a living, I have a story to tell you.
There are not many verses, it will not detain you long.
My story is short and won't take up too much of your time.
It's concerning some young fellows who did agree to go
I will tell you about some young men who agreed to go on a journey.
and spend one summer pleasantly of the range of the buffalo.
They decided to spend a summer hunting buffaloes.
'Twas in the town of Jacksboro in the spring of Sev'nty three,
The story takes place in Jacksboro in the spring of 1873.
A man by the name of Crego came stepping up to me,
A man named Crego approached me.
Saying, "How do you do, young fellow, and how would you like to go
He asked me how I was doing and if I wanted to go
And spend one summer pleasantly on the range of the buffalo?"
On a buffalo hunting trip that summer.
It's me being out of employment, this to Crego I did say,
Since I did not have a job, I told Crego,
"This going out on the buffalo range depends upon the pay.
That my decision to go on the hunting trip depends on how much he pays me.
But if you will pay good wages and transportation, too,
However, if you offer good pay and provide transportation,
I think, sir, I will go with you to the range of the buffalo."
I will go with you on the buffalo hunting trip.
"Yes, I will pay good wages, give transportation, too,
He agreed to pay me well and provide transportation if I go with him on the trip.
Provided you will go with me and stay the summer through,
But I have to stay with him for the whole summer.
But if you should grow homesick, come back to Jackboro,
If I get homesick, I can return to Jackboro.
I won't pay transportation from the range of the buffalo."
But he won't pay my transportation if I leave from the hunting range.
It's now our outfit was complete, seven able-bodied men,
Seven strong men completed our hunting party.
With navy six and needle gun, our troubles did begin.
We had guns and weapons, but our problems started to show.
Our way it was a pleasant one, the route we had to go,
Initially, the route we took was pleasant.
Until we crossed Pease River on the range of the buffalo.
But our journey became tough once we crossed Pease River into the buffalo hunting range.
It's now we've crossed Pease River, our troubles have begun.
After crossing Pease River, our problems began.
The first dam tail I went to rip, Christ, how I cut my thumb!
While skinning the first animal, I cut my thumb badly.
While skinning the dam old stinkers our lives they had no show,
When we were skinning the animals, we were vulnerable to attack.
For the Indians watched to pick us off while skinning the buffalo.
Native Americans were watching us and were ready to attack while we were skinning the buffaloes.
He fed us on such sorry chuck I wished myself most dead,
The food he gave us to eat was so bad that I wished I was dead.
It was old jerked beef, croton coffee, and sour bread.
We were given old beef jerky, bad coffee, and sour bread to eat.
Pease River's as salty as hell fire, the water I could never go
The water in Pease River was so salty that I could not even drink it.
Oh God, I wished I had never come to the range of the buffalo.
I regretted coming to the buffalo hunting range.
Our meat it was buffalo hump and iron wedge bread,
We ate buffalo meat and iron wedge bread.
And all we had to sleep on was a buffalo robe for a bed.
Our only bedding was a buffalo skin.
The fleas and gray backs worked on us, oh boys, it was not slow,
We were infested with fleas and lice, and it was unbearable.
I'll tell you there's no worse hell on earth than the range of the buffalo.
In my opinion, the buffalo hunting range is the worst place on earth.
Our hearts were cased with buffalo hocks, our souls were cased with steel.
Our hearts had become tough from hunting buffaloes, and our souls had become steel-like from enduring hardships.
And the hardships of that summer would nearly make us reel.
The struggles we went through that summer were almost too much for us to bear.
While skinning the damned old stinkers our lives they had no show.
We were extremely vulnerable to attack while we were skinning the buffaloes.
For the Indians waited to pick us off on the Hills of Mexico.
Native Americans were waiting to attack us in the Hills of Mexico.
The season being near over, old Grego he did say,
As the end of the season approached, Crego said,
The crowd had been extravagant, was in debt to him that day,
We had spent too much money and owed him a lot of money.
We coaxed him and we begged him and still it was no go.
We pleaded with him, but he still refused to pay.
We left old Crego's bones to bleach on the range of the buffalo.
We left Crego's remains on the buffalo hunting range.
Oh, it's now we've crossed Pease River and homeward we are bound,
Now that we have crossed Pease River, we are returning home.
No more in that hell-fired country shall ever be found.
We will never return to that terrible buffalo hunting range.
Go home to our wives and sweethearts, tell others not to go,
We will go back to our families and warn others not to go on a buffalo hunting trip.
For God's forsaken the buffalo range and the damned old buffalo.
The buffalo hunting range is deserted and the buffalo are cursed.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DP, Arlo Guthrie, DP DP
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind