The Lights of Cheyenne | James McMurtry

The Lights of Cheyenne - Written by James McMurtry/Ronnie Johnson
Recorded Live August 27, 2022
McGonigel's Mucky Duck | Home of the Livest Music in Texas™
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Lyrics:
Look off down the highway
at the glittering lights
Like windshield glass
on the shoulder tonight
As the diesels come
grinding on up from the plains
All bunched up like pearls on a string
And I guess time don't mean nothin'
Not nothin' at all
And out on the horizon
the broken stars fall
Old broken stars they
fall down on the land
And get mixed together
with the lights of Cheyenne
Well I've been up all night
and I'm down on my back
Workin' the counter
to take up the slack
'Cause the money tree's light
and the whiskey stream's low
You ain't worked a week
since July
You say the gravel pit's hiring
After the first
But you don't have the
nature for that kind of work
You might get hired on
But you won't make a hand
And I'll still be here lookin'
at the lights of Cheyenne
You stand in the sky
with your feet on the ground
Never suspectin' a thing
But if the sky were to
move you might never be found
Never be heard from again
We go on good behavior when
our youngest comes home
She comes up from Boulder
but she never stays long
And that oldest still fights
me like she was 18
Stopped in for a 6-pack awhile ago
And she's got a cowboy problem
And this last one's a sight
All dressed up like Gunsmoke
for Saturday night
And they were off to the bars
for lack of a plan
Racing the stars to the lights of Cheyenne
And you've kept all that
meanness inside you so long
You'd fight with a fence post
if it looked at your wrong
Well the post won't hit back,
and it won't call the law
I look at your right,
or I don't look at all
Now take a crumpled up
soft pack and give it a shake
Out by the dumpster on a cigarette break
With one eye swelled up from
the back of your hand
And the other eye fixed
on the lights of Cheyenne
You stand in the sky with
your feet on the ground
Never suspectin' a thing
But if the sky were to
move you might never be found
Never be heard from again
Now there's antelope grazing
in range of my gun
Come opening weekend
you won't see a one
They'll vanish like ghosts
'cause somehow they know
But now they're up to the
fence in the early dawn
And it's warming up nicely
for this time of year
The creeks are still frozen but
the roads are all clear
And I don't have it in me
to make one more stand
Though I never much cared f
or the lights of Cheyenne

[@typacsk]

I've worked all across Wyoming for the last several years, doing wildlife research. This song came on one morning as I was driving home, and I ended up absolutely speechless due to how he captured the feel of life out here.

[@5yearsout]

Once upon a time I was in a medically induced coma after removal of part of my right lung thanks to a 2-pack a day habit. Once they brought me out of the coma and I started remembering dreams I had, not sure if it was in the coma or right after. But one of the dreams was I was in the hospital in rural Wyoming, I'm from Utah and at the time lived in Arizona, I remember looking out the window at the highway at night in the dream, I saw all the semi-truck lights off in the distance coming towards me, hundreds of them. That's about all I remember other than the smell of Burger King.
Three years later my sister introduced me to James McMurtry's music. When I heard Lights of Cheyenne I was in shock, this line was my dream. "As the diesels come grinding on up from the plains, All bunched up like pearls on a string". Still makes me wonder how things work out in life. I've gotten to see James a dozen or so times and always look forward to hearing this song.

[@calebf.4847]

It doesn't get more real than this.

[@beestonsteve]

I saw James McMurtry years ago not knowing that many of his songs, and this one absolutely blew me away.

[@LambieSamba]

Don't have the nature for that kind of work. Such a stunning piece, one of my favorites from James! 😍😋

[@nealliske7700]

So exquisitely himself and given to all our collective stories to be woven together….❤

[@annalaren]

stunning ..

[@mmiller1188]

James is such an underrated artist! This is my favorite song from him

[@joannehack7588]

Agreed indeed

[@brylorbs69]

Every song, a short story or even a novella. Absolutely brilliant song writer.

[@joannehack7588]

Thank you for sharing

[@joannehack7588]

🎆

[@LIVEfromNorfolkStreet]

Thanks for watching!

[@stephenglapa9544]

Thank you for sharing this.

[@LIVEfromNorfolkStreet]

Thanks for listening

[@richardjohnson3463]

Such a treat, thank you

[@LIVEfromNorfolkStreet]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@richardjohnson3463]

12 string magic@@LIVEfromNorfolkStreet

[@joannehack7588]

🪐☮️😎💥🌙🦠🎇

[@LIVEfromNorfolkStreet]

🐮 🌙 🚜 🐷 🌾🌈🩷