Buckaroo Blues: The Stampede
The Residents Lyrics

When the hot sun sets and the evenin' gets
After the sun sets and the evening arrives

Calm and quiet on the trail.
The trail is peaceful and silent

And the cattle move as their dusty hooves
The sound of cattle hooves pounding the dusty ground

Pound the ground beneath their tail.
The cow's tail moves as they walk

Noone seems to care if a cowpoke stares
No one seems to be bothered by a cowpoke staring

And he feels he's all alone
The cowpoke feels lonely

So we drove that herd with just a few choice words
The herd was directed with a few verbal commands

On that night so long ago.
Referring to a past event

Way on up ahead rode Ol' Texas Red
Texas Red rides at the front

A red bandanna on his face.
Texas Red wears a red bandanna on his face

With his cold gray eyes he searched the northern skies,
Texas Red looks at the skies with cold, gray eyes

A ridin' with an easy grace.
Texas Red rides with ease and grace

On the left was Joe on his old pinto,
Joe rides on an old pinto horse on the left of Texas Red

And Jim Smith was on his right
Jim Smith rides on the right of Texas Red

As for the other eight, well, they were not so great,
The other eight riders are not as experienced

But we needed 'em all that night.
All riders were needed for that night's task

When so to soothe our thirst we had done the worst
The worst was done to quench thirst

And rode up to a nester's well
Riding towards a well owned by a nester

With our six guns out and without a doubt
All six guns were out without hesitation

The nester would defend himself.
The nester would protect himself

Out he quickly came and we all took aim.
The nester quickly appeared, and riders aimed their guns

A silver blade was in his hand.
The nester held a silver blade

Red pulled out his knife to take the nester's life
Texas Red pulled out his knife intending to kill the nester

Standin' by him, man to man.
The nester and Texas Red stood as equals

Then all at once appeared with no sign of fear.
Suddenly, a girl appeared without fear

A girl that boldly changed our plans
The girl boldly changed the riders' plans

She walked right up to Red and shook her golden head
The girl approached Texas Red and shook her golden hair

And took the knife right from his hand.
She took the knife from Texas Red's hand

Then she quickly cut the tension in our guts
The girl quickly eased the tension among the riders

With a smile that burned like a brand.
The girl's smile was bright and memorable

Then that demon girl cut off a golden curl
The girl cut off a curl of her own golden hair

And left it in Red's outstretched hand.
She left the curl in Texas Red's hand

From the north black clouds that looked like funeral shrouds
Black clouds appeared from the north, resembling funeral shrouds

Rolled in with an icy breath.
The clouds brought an icy breath with them

So we faced a fight on that stormy night
The riders prepared to fight on the stormy night

With odds upon the side of death.
The odds were against the riders, and they may face death

In the ghostly hush that fell before the rush
A tense and quiet moment in anticipation of a sudden rush

Came down upon us like a flood
The rush suddenly came, overwhelming them like a flood

Not a word was spoken as the thunder broke
No words were spoken as the thunder cracked

Our spurs dug in 'til they drew blood.
The riders' spurs dug in so deeply that they drew blood

So we watched that herd become a mob that blurred
The riders watched as the herd became a chaotic, blurry mob

And grew into a raging thang.
The herd grew into a furious thing

Then they turned their tail right back down that trail
The cattle changed direction and began running back down the trail

Stampeding from the Norther's stang
The cattle were stampeding from the sting of the north cold wind

Some say that there is beauty in the sound that suits
Some say that the sound of stampeding cattle is beautiful

The purity of mindless panic
The panic of the cattle is pure in its mindlessness

But all that we could see were tons of mindless meat were
The riders only saw the cattle as masses of mindless flesh

Headed for that nester's shack
The cattle were headed towards the nester's shack

Death was now at stake so we had to break
Death was imminent, and the riders had to act

The rhythm of the raging herd.
The riders had to break the rhythm of the herd's rage

Then as the lightning flashed we saw a rider pass
A rider passed by amid flashes of lightning

A ghostly shape with shining spurs.
The rider was ghostly with shining spurs

It was Texas Red who pulled on out ahead,
The rider ahead was Texas Red

And grabbed the girl with hair of gold.
Texas Red grabbed the girl with golden hair

But then we couldn't see because his horse's knee
His horse's knee blocked our view

Buckled as he hit a hole.
The horse buckled as it hit a hole

There we found the two where the north wind blew
The two were found where the north wind blew

Golden hair across his chest.
The girl's golden hair was across Texas Red's chest

And her fingers dug into his arms 'til blood
The girl's fingers dug into Texas Red's arms until he bled

Had made a pool beside her dress.
Blood had pooled beside the girl's dress

On the trail they lay at the break of day.
The two lay on the trail at daybreak

As we stood around and stared
The riders stood around and gazed

At their lips still touchin' and Ol' Red still clutchin'
The kiss between them was still happening, and Texas Red held the girl's hair

A curly lock of golden hair.
The lock of hair that Texas Red held was curly and golden