Sinaloa Cowboys Cover (R.U.S. Bonus)

Song begins at 1:34 runtime
I talk about Bruce Springsteen's subtle rhythm and lyrical phrasing at 6:10
and Paul Simon's subtle rhythm and lyrical phrasing at 6:48

By Bruce Springsteen, from the album The Ghost of Tom Joad.
It's not Bruce Springsteen singing it here, though, it's me, Matthew. Sometimes people get pretty confused about that.

A - - D / A - - E / A - - D / A E A -
Miguel came from a small town in northern Mexico
He came north with his brother Luis to California three years ago
They crossed at the river levee when Luis was just sixteen
And found work together in the fields of the San Joaquin

They left their homes and family
Their father said, "My sons, one thing you will learn:
For everything the North gives, it exacts a price in return"
They worked side by side in the orchards
From morning 'til the day was through
Doing the work the güeros wouldn't do

Word was out some men in from Sinaloa were looking for some hands
Deep in Fresno county there was a deserted chicken ranch
There in a small tin shack on the edge of a ravine
Miguel and Luis stood cooking methamphetamine

D - A - / D - A E / D - A D / A E A -
You could spend a year in the orchards or make half as much in one ten-hour shift
Working for the men from Sinaloa, ah, but if you slipped
The hydriatic acid would burn right through your skin
They'd leave you spitting up blood in the desert if you breathed those fumes in

It was early one winter evening as Miguel stood watch outside
When the shack exploded, lighting up the valley night
Miguel carried Luis' body over his shoulder down a swale to the creekside
And there in the tall grass Luis Rosales died

Miguel lifted Luis' body into his truck and then he drove
To where the morning sunlight fell on a eucalyptus grove
There in the dirt he dug up ten thousand dollars, all that they'd saved
Kissed his brother's lips and placed him in his grave