Becca Ray

BECCA RAY

Becca Ray, breakfast is ready
The Sun rises on a brand-new day
The long road ahead still awaits us
As we ride to the West out of Texas
With a cook, a nurse and a Wrangler
We're asleep in the arms of a stranger
And though we are always in danger
I'm wearing the badge of a West Texas Ranger

My name is McGillis, I'm bad to the Bone
I've traveled the Plains and the prairies alone
I don't know too much about my home in the Sun
I'm a bloodletter, bad man, and I live on the Run
I don't listen to the chatter when my working day is done
I could be a chapter of How the West was Won
Can you hear the laughter at the setting of the Sun
The Halls of Alabaster on the Plains of Aragon?

Becca Ray, she came out of nowhere
She never had time for a man
She traveled from the North country
All across the Southern Lands
She was a Gypsy Girl by nature
White, by only nomenclature
Her father was a Texas Ranger
About to be a Senator

She lived most of her life so deep in the shadows
She was good with a knife, and defended her values
When she ran for her life, it was up to Montana
To meet her  Apache Sister named Hannah
Hannah was older, and really quite wise
Their Dad sent a telegram, their Mother had died
They kept right on going, and neither one cried
We were all just beginning a High Mountain Ride

The Glaciers were melting up in the Cascades
There is no telling that these are the Days
When everything we love will all fade away
When the going gets rough and we've all had enough
At least we'll go out in a blaze, life's a labyrinth inside a maze
We might die a thousand ways, and be alive at the end of days
Just like raptors taking wing, we seize control of everything
Before we fly off on our way, as we all die off from decay

Glory or Sacrifice, it really don't matter
The Ways of the World left my Spirit in tatters
Becca Ray still cannot help but remember
The Star in the East at the End of December
The Eye of the Beast is on Fire Forever
He's quick and he's cool and he's deadly and clever
Just when you think you’re the fastest around
A quicker man takes you into a showdown

That Night she came to me, she said Joe, can you hear me?
This is insane to me, perhaps you should fear me
My sister's hearing voices, and I think I hear them too
And all that they keep telling us, is stay away from you
They say you are a bad luck charm
If we stay with you, we'll come to harm
This is not a false alarm
But, how we gonna keep you down on the farm?

I was just a ne’er do well, living on the edge of Hell
I can't tell you how I fell, but it paid me very well
There was a price upon my head, bring me back alive or dead
Many died where I just bled, with all the Rivers running Red
I was hunting in a riverbed, no telling where the river led
I had not been here before, not even before the War
You do not have to remind me who these men are right behind me
You might just have to remind me to undo the ties that bind me

Master and Shepherd of all that I see, what in the world has happened to me?
Bastard and blackguard, outlaw and thief, author of sadness, purveyor of grief
Becca and Hannah were up on a rock, the Northern Lights shining at 11:00
They were on watch right above our camp, I was below with a hurricane lamp
We all heard a sound, but I heard it first,  I hit the ground for better or worse
Blessings abound, but we're mortally cursed, till the moment that Time starts to run in reverse
The threat of the violence had us all inspired
We waited in silence for shots to be fired

You can see eternity here on the plains
You can feel the burning and the pain in your veins
The depth of your yearning will drive you insane
But you might still be standing at the end of the game
We were completely surrounded, outmanned and outgunned
Bad Day at Black Rock, a Red Velvet Sky
Hannah's Winchester and a Gatling gun
The vigilantes broke up and they went on the Run

A sharp report from real close by, don't ask me, I don't know why
Why my Becca had to die, and why Hannah didn't cry
I'll sing you a lullaby, but first I have to fight
It's just another day gone by in the middle of the night
Sleep tight, my darling, May the angels take you home
I'm tougher than a lion, and not afraid to be alone
Hannah will stay with me until the highest ridge
Our road will pass the Bridge of Sighs and then the Rainbow Bridge

When we whistle past the graveyard, we leave the rest behind us
The Echoes of the ghosts in the forest still remind us
There is safety in our numbers, if you can even find us
Say goodbye forever to all that defined us
The High Sierra Trail is ruthless in the snow
You'll be looking for some cover almost everywhere you go
If you wind up in jail, no one's ever going to know
Hear that long, lone, lonesome whistle blow

Hannah was growing weaker, but she refused to see
I knew the grim reaper was following her and me
Though she would deny it, it was obvious to me
There was no way we could fight it, no bittersweet victory
One night, I went out hunting, and I spoke to the Lord
He said if you live by the gun, then you'll die by the sword
I'm not afraid to die, I said, with Becca on the other side
But I'm not about to just invite another chance to die

I opened up my Bible then and read a couple lines
About the way our savior could turn water into wine
I began to understand the endlessness of time
And the soul of man's relentlessness, and restlessness, divine
I don't really get it all, but it's time for me to go
I believe I promise you just one thing that I know
Hold on to the one you love, and never let them go
Until you rise on up together, to where all the good ones go

Summer Sunshine, Winter Snow, wherever in the Hills you go
In Valhalla, it's just the same, April Showers, Autumn Rain
Somewhere it is written we shall overcome the pain
Until that time, Sweet Love of Mine, we must turn back the hands of time
Remembering when we were young, and it was all about having fun
Yes,  I'm one of the fortunate sons; when my father passed away
He willed to me his whole estate, for until my dying day
After that it's dedicated to the kids till the end of days

I hope that you have listened well, and hear the tolling of the Bell
The one down at the Wishing Well, the Portal to the rings of Hell
But, if you think it tolls for me, then listen very well
The Master said, It tolls for Thee and your final Fare-Thee-Well
I have no words to leave behind, except for maybe these
When the wind is blowing in the trees, you must fall down on your knees
And thank the Lord for your love and your life
Like Hannah, my lover, and Becca Ray, my wife
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