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I have always been fascinated by the tales and culture of the North American Indians and this song was inspired by a night out drinking with my friend Joe Walker when a conversation around our shared interest led to Joe going into Indian mode and attributing tribal origins and characteristics to everyone entering the bar. The first line of the song was Joe’s opener to two unknown female strangers who made the fatal mistake of trying to start up conversation with us. We never saw them again!

Shoshone Joe

I was taken by Shoshone at twelve years old
They taught me how to fight
Their warmth their love kept me out of the cold
Through the prairie winter night
Their buffalo hide their dried out meat
Kept my belly warm
Round the tepee fire old tales were told
Of the men who rode the storm

And the old men knew that the time had come
For the world that they'd rode through
Where the buffalo grazed lies a rancher's range
Where were many now are few
And the warrior braves lie in their graves
Where the lonely funeral pyre
Was blown away by the prairie winds
To the land of the great white fire

Now my tribe is lost and I count the cost
For the land that I once knew
Where the grass grew long, where our hearts were strong
Where the great bald eagle flew
For the faces I see they're not my own
Their wiles and ways so strange
That I can't even tell which tribe they're from
For I've lost my Shoshone, lost my Shoshone, lost my Shoshone ways

Now in my dreams I wear a cloak
of woodsmoke scented hide
There are pinewood smells Shoshone girls
Shoshone battle cries
If I could cast a witching spell
I'd make one last request
Please search this land for a medicine man
To find my Shoshone, find my Shoshone, find my Shoshone Princess
Please find my Shoshone, please find my Shoshone, find my Shoshone Princess