The story goes that Billy the Kid was killed in Fort Sumner on July 13, 1881 at the hands of Pat Garrett. A month later a man named John Miller married a Mexican woman in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Whoever saw him that day, including the priest who married the couple, swore it was Billy the Kid. Sometime later, the Pecos River overflowed into the Santa Fe cemetery where Billy the Kid was buried, and his body was never found. Each verse of this song is a different testimony of a character that feeds this legend.

Where the wild horses run

words & music by Andrea Parodi - english adaptation by Jono Manson

John Miller, walked straight through the town
But the kid was already six feet underground
Holding the hand of a Mexican girl
Blood on his pistol, with a handle, made of pearl
What does it matter if he has another name
I saw it in his eyes and I’d know him all the same
We waved goodbye as he rode out of sight, into the golden west

Hey, lonesome stranger won’t you stop and rest a while
Sit and quench the thirst of a thousand dusty miles
In Quemado, at our humble restaurant
We will pour some wine, and feed you most anything, that you could want
But let’s not speak about our old kitchen hand
He walks burning desert, and he is forever banned
From this place, passed down to me though time, my father’s father’s house

Where the wild horses run
Where the wild horses run
Where the wild horses run
Where the wild horses run

I gave him shelter, and half of my herd
If you think he is an outlaw, I don’t want to hear a word
My name is Jesus and my cattle graze these plains
And since he up and left us, it's just a memory, that remains
But I’ll never tell, so don’t even try to ask
About which trail he’s riding, or the whiskey in his flask
With his crooked shoulder and eyes of piercing blue, like the sky at sunset

Where the wild horses run
Where the wild horses run
Where the wild horses run
Where the wild horses run

I was just a boy, when I shipped off to war
Now I am resurrected, like my father before
Marched into Germany, with a rifle in my hands
I was born in April, without a mother, without a flag, without a land
Indian blood runs through my veins
I was raised by a man, who went by many names
Who always warned me, “Stay clear of that gun, and my old saddle bags"

They call me Isadora and if you are looking for that man
Billy the Kid was my husband, I still wear his wedding band
Sheriffs and bankers tremble, even to this day
There's a notch on his gun for every man, he blew away
My life began back in 1881
A girl without a name, before this story had begun
I was dead and gone, when you brought me back, brought me back from the flames

Where the wild horses run
Where the wild horses run
Where the wild horses run
Where the wild horses run

Là, dove corrono i cavalli
Dove corrono i cavalli
Dove corrono i cavalli
Dove corrono i cavalli

Dove corrono i cavalli

John Miller si presentò all'altare
Un mese dopo il suo funerale
Per mano a una donna messicana
Nell'altra una pistola e una ferita di qualche settimana
Cosa importa se adesso ha un altro nome
L'ho visto negli occhi alla comunione
Lo salutavano fuggire verso l'ovest

Dove corrono i cavalli

Hey forestiero fermati un istante
A Quemado nel nostro ristorante
Avrai la gola secca per la strada polverosa
Ti verseremo del vino e potrai mangiare qualunque cosa
Però non chiedere che fine a fatto il vecchio cuoco
Non temere sa camminare anche nel fuoco
Questo posto era del padre di mio padre e l'ho cacciato

Dove corrono i cavalli

Gli ho dato un tetto e metà del mio bestiame
Non vi azzardate a dire che era un'infame
Mi chiamo Gesù e sono un mandriano
Con lui da queste parti fuorilegge e ladri girano lontano
Non vi dirò mai da che parte è fuggito
E nemmeno il suo whiskey preferito
Con la sua spalla storta e i gli occhi azzurri come il cielo al tramonto

Dove corrono i cavalli

Poco più che ragazzo son partito soldato
E come mio padre son resuscitato
Combattevo in Germania nella grande guerra
Ma ero nato un aprile senza madre, senza bandiera e senza terra
Nelle mie vene scorre sangue indiano
Allevato da un bandito o un mandriano
Mi diceva sempre "Non toccare quel fucile e quel baule"

Dove corrono i cavalli

Il mio nome è Isadora e se cercate quel bandito
Billy the Kid è proprio mi marito
Perciò sceriffi e banchieri cominciate a tremare
C'è una tacca sulla sua pistola per ogni testa che ha fatto saltare
La mia vita cominciò nell'81
Chi ero prima non lo saprà nessuno
Ma ero già morta quando mi hai salvata dalle fiamme

Dove corrono i cavalli

Credits

Joe Ely – vocals (priest)
Ryan Bingham – vocals (restaurant owner)
Greg Brown – vocals (cowboy Jesus)
James McMurtry – vocals (Indian son)
Sarah Lee Guthrie – vocals (Isadora)
Glenn Fukunaga – bass
Brannen Temple – drums
Michael Longoria – percussions
David Pulkingham – nylon guitar
David Grissom – electric guitar
Joel Guzman – accordion
Steve Wickham – violin
Raffaele Kohler – trumpet
Andrea Parodi – vocals
Claudia Buzzetti – vocals

"Where the wild horses run" is track n.04 of the album Andrea Parodi Zabala