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A Gust of Wind

from Unravelled Tales - Volume 1 by Sam Steffen

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lyrics

As I was riding down the road / of a country strange, homeward bound
A gust of wind rose from the east / and knocked me sprawling to the ground
My horse, tho startled, didn’t fall / he only reared and neighed and fled
I called his name but he’d gone too far / I was stranded, helpless, left for dead

In the muddied ditch I lay awhile / from consciousness I came and went
Until I startled at the sound / of a drunken carriageman’s lament
He’d only stopped to rest his horse / and permit an overdue relief
I scared him nearly half to death / when I begged for him to “Help me—please!”

He hoisted me into his ride / two passengers already were aboard
a prospector heading for his mine, and a Lady going to meet her Lord
they took me in and nursed my wounds / from a scarf the Lady fashioned me a sling
they asked to know from whence I came / but I couldn’t remember anything

we drove all night until the dawn / by sun-up we had made the town
the driver stopped at the Blue Hotel / told the concierge to bring the doctor down
the doctor was a shiftless man / he smelled of whiskey something fierce
his arms were bare but for tattoos / his ears and lips and nose were pierced

he carried me up to his room and gave me something for the pain
I passed out almost immediately / when I awoke, we were on the move again
This time it was a different scene / I’s in a box-car bound and gagged
The conductor, through his surgeon’s mask, / gave me a morsel and said it was all he had

At the station we were shuffled off / some people had already died
Another carriage found me there / I’s ordered to “Hurry! Get inside!”
I was taken to a large estate / where I served a man of much esteem
Eventually I earned his trust / and learned to interpret all his dreams

He found my skills so excellent, he decided I should meet the king
And when the king looked on my face, he burst into tears, remembering
He said I was his long-lost son, finally at last come home again
He said, My horse arrived years before—they figured I’d been robbed and slain!

He stripped my siblings of their rites, their inheritance to me conferred
Introduced me to my fiancé; that same night I married her
At dawn I rose to walk the grounds and see what memories I could wake
I found the gardener in his grove, he said I’d made a grave mistake

He said my wife’d forsaken me, and had become his lover since
he told me that she loved him still, but of that I remained unconvinced
he challenged me unto a duel and offered me a loaded gun
we took ten paces from ourselves, turned and fired—he lost, I won

the gunshot roused a sleeping guard / who arrived in time to see the death
the gardener laid the blame on me / with his dying final breath—
I fled to my old and ragged horse, a beast unfit to bear a prince—
a gust of wind rose from the east, which I’ve been chasing ever since…

credits

from Unravelled Tales - Volume 1, released March 5, 2021

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Sam Steffen Boise, Idaho

Sam Steffen is a Pennsylvania-bred, Boise-based singer-songwriter whose songs are the torch-wood for a new generation of folk music that has learned from the best stuff in the tradition and aims in spite of everything to keep the human spirit alive and kicking. A versatile musician and skilled finger-picker, Sam is at heart a story-teller, and a prolific one. ... more

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