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Thread: Desert Blues

  1. #1

    Default Desert Blues

    Looking at the lyrics to this Jimmie Rodgers song

    https://genius.com/Jimmie-rodgers-desert-blues-lyrics

    The first stanza doesn't seem too bad, perhaps because I'm not entirely clear on its meaning. I could take it multiple ways

    2nd stanza not hard to find a modern problem with.

    But the third stanza is what I came here for.

    Last night on the windswept desert I heard a big Indian moan
    I left my tent, I knew what it meant, and I swore I’d never more roam
    It was dawn when I reached safety, my legs were certainly sore
    I must of lost fifty pounds on that hot desert ground
    And I’d lose that many more


    Well he knew what it meant, but I'm not sure I do.

    Was Buffalo Nickel feeling amorous toward the narrator? Why else would he be so scared that he ran all night? Or is there some other meaning that escapes me? He wouldn't be that frightened if Nickel was just up to his normal nocturnal pursuits, unless perhaps the narrator is a woman who is not amorously inclined toward Mr Nickel. Or Is he (if its a he) just frightened by hearing an Indian in his proximity in general?

    Do tell.

  2. #2
    Registered User Charlie Bernstein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Desert Blues

    Any of the above.

    To be (slightly) charitable to Jimmie, maybe the chief was just scary. Or the singer didn't want all his food to get et.

    Those early country singers weren't all the most culturally sensitive people in the world. Come to think of it, a lot of 'em still aren't . . . .

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