Lyrics:

(Nanci Griffith)

Oh, your golden lights of America,
Joseph sought your prairies and your buffalo
And the humming of the rails down through
Kansas, they brought Joseph in from Baltimore
The Cavalry the Indians and an old dan were his only friends
Then the old dan died and the Indian's plight
Made the Cavalry young Joe's enemy.

Oh, the oultlaws spilled the blood across
The Kansas plains in the '70s
Joseph took a badge for America
To defend you from your fantasies
Joseph wore that badge across the Kansas prairies
To save the railroads
But the heroes that we made, well, they were
Ruthless soldiers who'll kill for gold.

With a broken heart for the frontier plains
Joseph sat a-rocking in his front porch swing
That old tin badge is tarnished now
You know it was just a young man's dream
And old man's tales are hard to reach when you
Don't believe in your American dream
The Indians, the buffalo and old Joe Mason
They died from memory

Oh, your golden lights of America
Joseph sought your prairies and your buffalo
And the humming of the rails down through Kansas
They brought Joseph in from Baltimore
The Cavalry, the Indians and an old dan
Forsaken old man.

Oh, your golden lights of America.