From the recording Hard West (double CD)
Lyrics
13) Dakota Wind
m.litton
It was years ago out in Denver town
I was half a soldier and half a clown
In an alley shadowed by the Larimer lights
With a whiskey bottle I went to hide
I walked the pavement and came to dare
A painted lady with painted hair
She laughed ‘n cried ‘n moaned a curse
Flashed a thigh beneath her skirt
I followed her down till the dust ‘n smoke was slumberin’
I moved from that edge with my blood and senses thinned
Chorus: And that ol’ Dakota wind was howlin’
Heard it howlin’...hey, hey, hey... a’howlin’
At first you think your home’s too small
But once you leave you’re only half so tall
From every side the road looks gray
The ol’ road leads back from where ya came
That homegrown gal with the kitten eyes
Vowed to love me her whole life
But when I came home one bitter morn
Muddy boots had crossed our floor
The shadows of my pain fell like our child’s dominoes
My blood came to boil, then my heart just froze
(chorus)
Now the ax of guilt waits to fall
But the serpent speaks a double law
We’ve tipped the scales, what’s done is done
I drink my whiskey, she has her fun...
I drive out past the ol’ rail line
Where the weeds have grown thru the broken ties
I park my truck high on a hill
To view this land of frozen fields
The winter sun is slanting south
The sky hangs in one gray cloud
And if I was brave then I’d pray the sun to set on my last day
Cause life my just a picture of something that once was real
Hidden in a dark room, just an image on a film
(chorus)