Spanish Johnny Willa Cather, By Gerry Hubbard

Spanish Johnny Adapted By Paul Siebel  
Following The Song Is 
The Poem By Willa Cather

Those other years, those dusty years
When we drove the big hearse through
I tried to forget the miles we rode
And Spanish Johnny, too!
He'd sit beside a water ditch
When all his herd was in
He'd never harm a child
But sing to his mandolin
 The old songs, the old talk
And the dealin' of our games
That Spanish Johnny lived for
To sing the  songs of Spain
And his talk with men was vicious talk
When he was drunk on gin
But those were golden things he said
To his mandolin
We had to stand, we had to judge
We had to stop him then
See those hands so gentle to a child
Had killed so many men
He died a hard death long ago
Before the roads came in
And the night before he swung
He sang to his mandolin
We carried him out in the morning light
The man who done no good
Laid him down in a cold, cold clay
Stuck in a cross of wood
And a letter we wrote to his kinfolks
To tell'em where he'd been
We shipped it off to Mexico
Along with the mandolin

Spanish Johnny
By Willa Cather

The old West, the old time,
   The old wind singing through
The red, red grass a thousand miles—
   And Spanish Johnny, you!
He’d sit beside the water ditch
   When all his herd was in,
And never mind a child, but sing
   To his mandolin.

The big stars, the blue night,
   The moon-enchanted lane;
The olive man who never spoke,
   But sang the songs of Spain.
His speech with men was wicked talk—
   To hear it was a sin;
But those were golden things he said
   To his mandolin.

The gold songs, the gold stars,
   The world so golden then;
And the hand so tender to a child—
   Had killed so many men.
He died a hard death long ago
   Before the Road came in—
The night before he swung, he sang
   To his mandolin.