"deadwood Lyrics - Nanci Griffith

Well, the good times scratched a laugh 

From the lungs of the young men 

In a Deadwood saloon, South Dakota afternoon 

And the old ones by the door with their heads to their chests 

They told lies about whiskey on a woman's breath 

Yes, and some tell the story of young Mickey Free 

Who lost an eye to a buck deer in the Tongue River Valley 

Oh and some tell the story of California Joe 

Who sent word through the Black Hills 

'There was a mountain of gold' 

And the gold she lay cold in their pockets 

And the sun she sets down on the trees 

And they thank the Lord for the land that they live in 

Where the white man does as he pleases 

Some flat shoed fool from the East comes a runnin' 

With some news that he'd read in some St. Joseph paper 

And it was "Drinks all around" 'cause the news he was tellin' 

Was the one they called Crazy 

Had been caught and been dealt with 

And the Easterner he read the news from the paper 

And the old ones gathered closer so's they could hear better 

"And it says here that Crazy Horse was killed 

While he was trying to escape 

And it was some time last September and it don't give the exact date" 

And the gold she lay cold in their pockets 

And the sun she sets down on the trees 

And they thank the Lord for the land that they live in 

Where the white man does as he pleases 

Where the white man does as he pleases 

Then the talk turned back to whiskey and women 

And cold nights on the plains, Lord, and fightin' those Indians 

And the Easterner he says he'll have one more 'fore he goes 

He gives the paper to the Crow boy 

Who sweeps up the floor 

And the gold still lay cold in their pockets 

And the sun still sets down on their trees 

And they thank the Lord for the land that they live in 

Where the white man does as he pleases 

Where the white man does as he pleases 

Where the white man does as he pleases 

As he wants to, as he pleases