Colorado Trail

Lyrics

(Folk song)

1. Eyes like a morning star, cheeks like a rose,
Laura was a pretty girl everybody knows

Refrain
Weep, all you little rains, wail, winds, wail.
All along along along the Colorado trail.

2. Laura was a happy girl, smilin’ as the day,
Laura was a pleasant girl, now she’s gone away. Refrain

3. Sixteen years she graced the earth, and all life was good,
Now all life is buried beneath a cross of wood. Refrain

4. Ride all the lonely night, ride all the day,
Keep the herd a-rollin’ on, rollin’ on its way. Refrain

5. Black is the stormy night, dark is the sky,
Wish I’d stayed in Abilene, nice and warm and dry. Refrain

Barbara Kostelnik
January 15, 2016 at 10:12 am

Lovely song I listened to often as a child, on the album “Songs of the Old West” by the Norman Luboff Choir. One point: I don’t know which came first, but they and many others use the lyrics “God Almighty knows” instead of “everybody knows”, and I feel those lyrics are more poignant and keeping with the overall poetry of the song — the one who lost the child is almost cursing in their grief, plus it captures the loneliness along the trail.
Thanks for sharing your insights into this song — terrific!

Reply
1. Beth
  January 16, 2016 at 11:09 am
  
  Thanks for sharing, Barbara! I wasn’t aware of the other lyrics.
  
  Reply