A hundred miles from nowhere
out on the desert sand
One Eyed Jack the trader held
some turquoise in his hand
By his side sat Running Elk
his longtime Indian friend
He vowed that he would stay by Jack
until the bitter end
Jack had gambled everything he owned
to leave this wondering life
He might have had a happy home
and a tender loving wife
But his hunger was for trading
trapper's furs for turquoise stones
Anything that the Indians had
Jack wanted for his own
Said Jack to Running Elk
I'll gamble all my precious stones
Before I leave my body here
among these bleaching bones
Though now my time is drawing near
and I'm filled with dark regrets
My spirit longs to journey
as the sun begins to set
We raped and killed we stole your land
We rule with guns and knives
add whiskey to your waters
While we stole away your wives
said Running Elk what's done is done
you white men rule this land
so lay the cards face up and play
your last broken hearted hand
When you're dealing cards with death
the joker's wild -the ace is high
Jack bet the Mississippi River
Running Elk raised him the sky
Jack saw him with the sun and moom
and upped him with the stars
Running Elk bet the Rocky Mountains
Jupiter and Mars
The sun was sinking in the west
when Jack drew the ace of spades
Running Elk just rolled his eyes and smiled
and passed away
Jack picked up his turquoise stones
and cast them to the sky
He stared into the setting sun and made the mournful cry
Oh the wind blows cold
On the trail of the buffalo
Oh the wind blows cold
In the land of the Navajo
In the land of the Navajo
[sang by Peter Rowan, no author mentioned]
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