Night Rider's Lament/Evening Waltz

Night Rider's Lament=1975, Mike Burton. Evening Waltz=1985, Sandy Paton.

         I first heard "Night Rider's Lament" from Harry Tuft and Jack Stanesco. It's a nice statement from Mike Burton about different strokes for different folks, with a nice bite to it. In other recordings, notably that of Jerry Jeff Walker, there's a yodel at the end of the song. We opted to include an apt waltz written by Sandy Paton instead, which opens the song, provides an instrumental interlude, and closes the song. (ET)

Last night as I was riding
Graveyard shift, midnight to dawn,
Oh, the moon was as bright as a reading light
For a letter from an old friend back home.

He asked me, "Why do you ride for your money?
Why do you rope for short pay?
You ain't gettin' nowhere and you're losing your share -
Oh, you must have gone crazy out there."

He said, "Last night I run onto Jenny;
She's married and has a good life.
Oh, you sure missed the track when you never come back;
She's a perfect professional's wife.

"She asked me, 'Why does he ride for his money?
Why does he rope for short pay?
He ain't gettin' nowhere and he's losing his share -
Oh, he must have gone crazy out there.'"

But they've never seen the Northern Lights,
Never seen the hawk on the wing;
Never seen the spring hit the Great Divide,
No, they never heard old camp cookie sing.

Well, I read up the last of the letter;
I tore off the stamp for Black Jim.
And Billy come by to relieve me;
Just looked at my letter and grinned.

He said, "They ask you why do you ride for your money?
Why do you rope for short pay?
You ain't gettin' nowhere and you're losing your share
Oh, they must be all crazy back there."

But they've never seen the Northern Lights,
Never seen the hawk on the wing;
Never see the spring hit the Great Divide,
No, they never heard old camp cookie sing.

Night Rider's Lament/Evening Waltz is recorded on the CD Fashioned in The Clay