Red-Winged Blackbird - Ray Sawyer

(Joel Jaffe)



The indians say that the blackbird

Was flying too close to the sun

And the bright burning flames changed his wings and his name

To remind him how far he had come



On the banks of the yellow Rio Grande

There's a little stone shack built by hand

And a young man with more than a lot on his mind

Sits and stares out across the desert sand



Red-winged Blackbird fly

Away from Neuvo Laredo

I'll be there by and by

When I'm on my way back home



In the dry dusty month of September

He arrived with the West Texas wind

In flight from the lies and the life he had lived

He'd return but he did not know when



Red-winged Blackbird fly

Away from Neuvo Laredo

I'll be there by and by

When I'm on my way back home



One morning the Red-winged Blackbird

Left his barbed wire fence before dawn

For the young man his flight had a magical meaning

And the day after that he was gone



Red-winged Blackbird fly

Away from Neuvo Laredo

I'll be there by and by

When I'm on my way back home



Red-winged Blackbird fly

Away from Neuvo Laredo

I'll be there by and by

When I'm on my way back home....



(c) 1977 Whispering Wind Publishing Co.