From the recording Where The Myrtle Doth Entwine
As a campfire burns, snapping embers crackle in the background, transporting us to the old West where we hear the ballad of Buffalo Bill & everyone he killed. Fingerpicking folk guitar transitions to hillbilly banjos & thumping percussion & bass in the chorus. Flanked on both sides by poignant harmonies, it’s a new Outlaw Country conceptualization of the Americana Folk legend.
Lyrics
Bison slayer,
Hunted four-thousand head?
Farmer, trapper,
Miner and bullwhacker,
At only seven,
You saw your father slaughtered,
And at eleven,
You shot your first warrior?
Best indian scout?
Brother to the Cheyenne,
(Until that bout
At Warbonnet Gorge.)
You turned your back.
“Better kill or be scalped”?
Your heart turned black
As the hooves of your horse.
Tell me, Buffalo Bill,
Everyone that you killed,
Tell me, how could you live
With their blood on your hands?
Tell me, Buffalo Bill,
Everyone that you killed,
Tell me, how could you live
With their blood on your hands?
You soon grew poor.
Fame and family, you lost.
Then fate opened a door,
And you were back on top.
The Wild West Show
Brought the west to the east.
You traveled the world,
But the battle never stopped.
Oh, Buffalo Bill,
Everyone that you killed,
Tell me, how could you live
With their blood on your hands?
Tell me, Buffalo Bill,
Everyone that you killed,
Tell me, how could you live
With their blood on your hands?
Tell me, Buffalo Bill,
Everyone that you killed,
Tell me, how could you live
With their blood on your hands?
Tell me, Buffalo Bill,
Everyone that you killed,
Tell me, how could you live,
Tell me, how could you live
With their blood on your hands?