Ben Shaw
(Rich Mullins, very early)
Ride home, Ben Shaw, ride home.
'Cause I polished up your rifle, and the Winter's comin' on.
Ride home, Ben Shaw, ride home.
'Cause if John Steinbeck's right, then the wilderness is gone.
Up in Randolph County when the wilderness was thick way back in the territory days
Oh, Ben Shaw came a travelin' with his woman and his walking stick
With such prayers as a wilderness man prays.
So, ride home, Ben Shaw, ride home.
'Cause I polished up your rifle, and the Winter's comin' on.
Ride home, Ben Shaw, ride home.
'Cause if John Steinbeck's right, then the wilderness is gone.
Lately somethin's happenin' that I just can't understand
Makes me feel afraid and so ashamed.
Folks these days don't appreciate the simple things of the land
That made you become what you became.
So, ride home, Ben Shaw, ride home.
'Cause I polished up your rifle, and the Winter's comin' on.
Ride home, Ben Shaw, ride home.
'Cause if John Steinbeck's right, then the wilderness is gone.
He could dance like a prairie wind, climb like a fire in a cedar tree's limbs,
Dance with the ladies and wrestle with the men all
Sometimes I wish that you'd come back and carry me away!
So, ride home, Ben Shaw, ride home.
'Cause I polished up your rifle, and the Winter's comin' on.
Ride home, Ben Shaw..Ben Shaw ride home.
'Cause if John Steinbeck's right, then the wilderness is gone.
And, if John Steinbeck's right, then the wilderness is gone!
©richmullinsongs
Song Notes: "This is a song about an ancestor of mine. See, my great aunt was real crazy, and they finally had to have her taken care of in an institution. She just kept getting worse and worse.. kept trying to shoot the mailman and trying to steal from him. She had all the inheritance of the family because my great-grandfather, who was her brother, was an alcoholic and they decided that they'd better not give the money to him because he didn't know how to handle anything. So, she got all the stuff. When she had to be put away, we got all the stuff and my dad got all the guns of Ben Shaw.. who was one of the original settlers in Randolph County which is where I'm from."
