When I got to Jackson, I was sleeping My hat, the angle it should be Dined on a table spread with muslin Jawbone, fry bread, and cowpeas I was soothed by the grooves of epic etchings I was a boy in blue and had a steed And the cavalry Will carry me Wherever these inflated shoulders lead With only as much as suggestion I'd take down whichever pigeon flew my way And come in from the north, just like before But found the tempt of gold as my pay I'm a man, not unlike any of my subjects Who took a leap in haughtiness and haste As my pockets raged I met a distant face A chief and his nation 'cross the bank Doubled as an end and a beginning The stream of fate began to swell And to understand is beyond me The tendency To heroize the way that general fell He's just another tender, screaming baby Convinced by himself and those in lead And felt the crushing blow Undeniable force Of a stoic beast, provoked finally