In this song, Hank’s ‘basso profundo’ voice descends to his lowest note in all of the songs in the book, ‘A Cowboy and His Songs.’   His low B-flat below the bass clef is five tones (a perfect 5th) lower than the F♮ that is the usual low limit of most bass singers.  The narrator of the song reveals his dismay at his pal’s girlfriend.  She influenced him to be transformed from an honest cowboy into a gambler and gunslinger.  As a result, he protected his girl’s honour by filling another gambler ‘full of lead’ for insulting her picture.  Subsequently on the run from the rangers, he winds up getting shot, but before he dies (many of these cowboy songs with extended death scenes would make good opera plots!), he tells his comrades to “Bury Me Out On the Prairie” (the alternate title of the song).  And they do, marking the grave with big stones to let other cowboys know how a heartless woman can be responsible for the death of her lover.
Henry Meredith, Jr., author.

New tracks tagged #Chaparral,