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Tall Tales

Tall TalesArtist Name
00:00 / 02:18

Our good friend Lani Cran Petrie was telling us one day about how she and her father Gordon Cran were trying to get some wild cattle out of an area in Kāpapala Ranch in Kaʻu.  She told us how they had rounded up and were moving a herd of wild  cattle out of a forested area on the ranch. She said  a young bull had run off from the herd and was not willing to come out of the forest.  She described how she and her father found the bull,  roped him and were pulling him out of the forest with much difficulty.  Frustrated her father told her to drop her rope  which allowed the bull to attack her father and his horse.  She went on to say that the way her father lead the bull out of the forest was like "Poetry in Motion".   Jody was writing Cowboy poetry at the time and she and I sat down and composed Tall Tales together. Ironically  Tall Tales was the name of the horse Gordon Cran was ridding.  This story is not a tall tale.

It was poetry in motion             

As they threaded through the trees

The horse Tall tales

Doing his job

Between the boss’s knees

 

The bull was right upon them

Speed was their only hope

With the drag rope loose and trailing

They galloped down the slope

 

They started hunting cattle

Where the wild ones like to hide

The boss man on his favorite horse

His daughter by his side

 

Together they had worked this land

Twenty years it seemed

But today she saw what all those years

Had really come to mean

 

The work was moving steady on the section left to clear                                                    The cows and calves had all been moved

But he bull had disappeared

They found him on a little knoll Looking mighty mean

The boss man took his dally hard

And the daughter she threw clean

 

With two ropes pulling tightly

They held the demon still

With the daughter riding anchor

The boss lead them down the hill

 

But the trees were thick and tangled

They could barely hold em clear

Drop your rope the boss man yelled

I’m running em out of here

 

In horrid fascination She watched the old man ride

Ducking Dancing sliding turning Side to side

A  lot has been sung about a man and his ride

But this man and horse in motion

Filled her with great pride

 

It was poetry in motion

As they threaded through the trees

Horse Tall Tales doing his job 

Between the boss’s knees

You can sing about you famous rides 

But  I can guarantee

You’ll never top the ride 

That’s burned in the daughter’s memory

 

It was  poetry in motion

As they threaded through the trees.

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