Nanci Griffith Follow

Oh, your golden lights of America
Joseph sought your prairies and your buffalo
And the humming of the rails down through Kansas
They brought Joseph in from Baltimore

The Cavalry, the Indians
And an old dan were his only friends
Then the old dan died and the Indians' plight
Made the Cavalry young Joe's enemy

Oh, the outlaws spilled the blood
Across the Kansas plains back in the '70's
Joseph took a badge for America
To defend you from your fantasies

Joseph wore that badge
Across the Kansas prairies to save the railroads
But the heroes that we made, well, they were
Ruthless soldiers who'd kill for gold

With a broken heart for the frontier plains
Joseph sat a-rocking in his front-porch swing
That old tin badge is tarnished now
You know it was just a young man's dream

And old man's tales are hard to reach
When you don't believe in your American Dream
The Indians, the buffalo and old Joe Mason
They died from memory

Oh, your golden lights of America
Joseph sought your prairies and your buffalo
And the humming of the rails down through
Kansas, they brought Joseph in from Baltimore

The Cavalry, the Indians, and an old dan
Forsaken old man
Oh, your golden lights of America