Things ain't like they used to be...

Things ain't like they used to be, but you don't need me to tell you that.....




The song "Elko will survive" is what I like to think of as my little ode to history.

The lyrics I wrote are not about the TOWN of Elko, NV.

But rather, the "feeling" of all those little cow towns across the US that each of us know so well.

Towns with a history like Elko mean something to us.  They change and they may evolve--sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse--but they linger on importantly in our psyche.

The west is a dusty map of small towns that are made up through the stories individuals bring with them when they arrive.

To me, they are dust.
Summer dances at the fairgrounds
Coffee.
Hunger.
Minors.
Railroad tracks.
Stolen moments at the laundry mat catching a cat nap.
The homeless man you see every year who suddenly disappears one Poetry Gathering.
Love that doesn't last.
The acting that everyone does when at the bar in Stockmen's.
The laughter.
The fun.
The tears.


Open spaces and wondering what is around the corner...

Living.

Elko is just one of many, that refuses to let go.

Heres to history.


xoxo

~Adrian

"Elko will survive", 

Album: Buckaroogirl

Music & Lyrics: Adrian Brannan 

Well things ain’t like they used to be

But you don’t need me to tell you that

You better not look like a buckaroo

Its cooler now days to wear a baseball cap

And you can try to forget the wooly days

But ill remind you of how it was

Lets take this town back again

The yuppies don’t need the whole world

Like in the old days when the pioneer was still a bar

Two headed calf in the window

And winos past out in the door

And the basques and the whores and the drunks and the hats

And the horse trailers were lined up

When you walked into this town

Here’s to hoping elko will survive

Strong coffee and a round crowned hat

Two am closing stckmens down

Trucks dead and mornings cold

Don’t say your mama never told you so

Shoulda chose the office

Shoulda gone to school

Schoulda coulda woulda but its too late fool

Hold your head up high

When they label you wild

Like in the old days when the pioneer was still a bar

Two headed calf in the window

And winos past out in the door

And the basques and the whores and the drunks and the hats

And the horse trailers were lined up

When you walked into this town

Here’s to hoping elko will survive

You can keep your progress

Wild horses over family ranch

Ill keep my cow-camp

My guns

And my freedom

You can take your laws

Filthy money and gold mines

Ill trap and rope and brand and ride

Where I like

Like in the old days when the pioneer was still a bar

Two headed calf in the window

And winos past out in the door

And the basques and the whores and the drunks and the hats

And the horse trailers were lined up

When you walked into this town

Here’s to hoping elko will survive