The Ballad Of Edward Abbey - Tom Russell

It was in the town of Tucson in Nineteen Eighty-Three

A man named Edward Abbey come a walking up to me

He pulled his cigar from his mouth, said, «I smell lawyers here»

The politician, running-dogs, they crawled away in fear

Singing do-ra-do

Singing do-ra-day

Ed walked across the desert at least a thousand times

He spoke with javelina, slept 'neath piñon pine

And if he saw a billboard there, he’d chop that bastard down

Said, if a man can’t piss in his own front yard, he’d never keep close to town

Singing do-ra-do

Singing do-ra-day

Lord, I wish Edward Abbey were walking round today

Ed had a taste for women, in fact he married quite a few

He said, «I'd fall in love, boys, but I’m only passing through

You know I like 'em all, boys, and some more than the rest

I’ve tried my hand at monogamy, now I’m off to save the west

Singing do-ra-do

Singing do-ra-day

Ed died one day at sundown in his Tucson riding shack

They wrapped him in a sleeping bag and drove him way out back

Beneath the wild saguaro, the coyotes chewed his bones

And on a hidden marker, was 'No Comment', carved in stone

Singing do-ra-do

Singing do-ra-day

Yeah, I wish Edward Abbey were walking round today

Now I’m living in the desert, but the town is a-closing in

Those cracker box developments, Ed would call a sin

We stole this land from the Mexican and now we’ll sell it back

And they’ll live like mortgage prisoners in those goddamn housing tracts

Tell me, who votes for the mountain lion, tell me, who votes for the fox

Who votes for the spotted owl who hides there in the rocks

I wish that Ed would come again with a chainsaw in his hand

And carve all up those housing tracts and take on back the land

Singing do-ra-do

Singing do-ra-day

Yeah, I wish Edward Abbey were walking round today