Chambers
Nichols Ben Lyrics
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He’d come west to Mexico to fight 1842 at Mier
The gutters filled with blood and fear
Barely made it back to Texas alive
With Missouri Volunteers when the war began
In ’46 they crossed the Rio Grande
There he met his dark-eyed love
But said good bye when the war was done
He swore that he’d come back for her again
Oh oh novia
Oh oh your man is gone
Maybe he’s in Texas
But we’ll take what God has left us
And we’ll leave for California with the dawn
Worked his way back to Old Mexico
To reclaim the love he’d left two years ago
Back to those same city walls
Where he’d watched copper cannonballs
Like wayward suns roll down the cobblestones
They put him in a prison left alone
With other yankee fools so far from home
Parade them through the square in chains
‘Till in rode Captain Glanton’s gang
Apache scalps for bounties paid in gold
Glanton’s men were killers all by trade
And through the prison bars a deal was made
Glanton needed three new men
Hired the lovelorn veteran
The killers rode out through the governor’s gates
The Veteran left camp ‘fore the rising sun
No killer he’d left other work undone
He was not yet two days out
When Glanton’s naked native scouts
Brought back his empty horse and his brand new gun
The lyrics of "Chambers," by Nichols Ben, tell the story of a man born in Kentucky who fought in the Mexican War and fell in love with a dark-eyed woman while stationed there. He returns home to Texas after the war, but promises to return to Mexico to be with his love. However, when he goes back to Mexico, he is imprisoned and offered a deal to become a killer for Captain Glanton in exchange for his freedom. Although he agrees to the deal to be with his love, he is not a heartless killer, and he leaves Glanton's gang before they go on their mission. Unfortunately, he is caught and killed by Glanton's naked native scouts, who return his empty horse and his brand new gun.
The song is based on the novel "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy, which tells the story of a teenage runaway known only as "the Kid," who becomes a member of Glanton's gang and witnesses their brutal exploits. The character of Chambers, who is not fleshed out in McCarthy's novel, is given a backstory and a love interest in the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Born under a south Kentucky sky
He was born and raised under the sky of southern Kentucky.
He’d come west to Mexico to fight 1842 at Mier
He had traveled west to Mexico to fight in the battle of Mier in 1842.
The gutters filled with blood and fear
The streets were covered in blood and everyone was full of fear during the battle.
Barely made it back to Texas alive
He barely survived the battle and made it back to Texas alive.
With Missouri Volunteers when the war began
He was a part of the Missouri Volunteers when the war began.
In ’46 they crossed the Rio Grande
In 1846, they crossed the Rio Grande during the war.
There he met his dark-eyed love
He met the love of his life during the war.
But said good bye when the war was done
He had to say goodbye to his love when the war was over.
He swore that he’d come back for her again
He promised to return for her someday.
Oh oh novia
Oh oh my love
Oh oh your man is gone
Oh oh your man has left
Maybe he’s in Texas
Perhaps he is still in Texas
But we’ll take what God has left us
But we will make the most of what God has given us
And we’ll leave for California with the dawn
And we will leave for California at dawn.
Worked his way back to Old Mexico
He had worked his way back to Old Mexico.
To reclaim the love he’d left two years ago
He was there to try and reclaim the love that he had left behind two years ago.
Back to those same city walls
He returned to the same city walls where he and his love had parted ways.
Where he’d watched copper cannonballs
He had previously watched copper cannonballs being used in battle there.
Like wayward suns roll down the cobblestones
The cannonballs had looked like wayward suns rolling down the cobblestone streets.
They put him in a prison left alone
He was thrown into prison and left alone.
With other yankee fools so far from home
He was with other American soldiers who were far away from home.
Parade them through the square in chains
They were marched through the square in chains for everyone to see.
‘Till in rode Captain Glanton’s gang
Until the arrival of Captain Glanton’s gang.
Apache scalps for bounties paid in gold
Captain Glanton’s gang received money in gold for every Apache scalp they collected.
Glanton’s men were killers all by trade
Captain Glanton’s men were all professional killers.
And through the prison bars a deal was made
A deal was made through the prison bars with Captain Glanton’s gang.
Glanton needed three new men
Captain Glanton was in need of three new men.
Hired the lovelorn veteran
The veteran who had lost his love was hired by Captain Glanton.
The killers rode out through the governor’s gates
Captain Glanton and his gang rode out through the governor’s gates, heading to their next mission.
The Veteran left camp ‘fore the rising sun
The veteran left their camp before the sun had even risen.
No killer he’d left other work undone
The veteran was not a killer but had other things to do.
He was not yet two days out
He had only been traveling for less than two days.
When Glanton’s naked native scouts
Captain Glanton had Native American scouts who were not wearing any clothes.
Brought back his empty horse and his brand new gun
Captain Glanton’s scouts returned with the veteran’s empty horse and a brand new gun.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Benjamin Nichols
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind