Rattlesnake Junction
words and music: A1C Dave Davis
performed by Jim Schaffer
Well way back a long time ago when the only connection between the city folks of the East and their brothers and sisters who were farming and mining and 'sploring and planting sagebrush in the west was an old stage coach line. . . .
There was a little stage coach stop located up in the hills overlookin' the Snake River ragin', the antelope a prancin' and the Merc department store a sellin' by the name of Rattlesnake Station.
But as fate would have it, the times were changin' and some fancy Dan invented an engine train and they decided to put in a railroad to replace the stagecoach and the pony express and that was the end of Rattlesnake Station.
And thus began the long and thrilling and exciting history of the little Idaho desert town what was about to play a large and important part in the history of the potato state and the entire United States Air Force. ... but I'll tell ya 'bout that later___
Now they brought these here jet-plane F-111s to this town called Mtn. Home to play flying and fighting and bombing and burnin' and lootin' and rapin' and all those nasty things those nasty generals have a tendency to do.
And nobody figured they better oughta say nothing about it 'cept how real it was leastwise not till some folks decided they been listenin' enough and they better do some talkin' because it was high time . . .
Now all this time throughout the world there was people fighting and killing and bloodyin' up the brothers and sisters and developin' a general attitude what was detrimental to the health and well-being of the entire human race . . .
And here comes old progress again developing a technology which would find better ways of killing and fighting and bloodyin' up the people and their brothers and sisters by inventing somethin' what was called the F-111 . . .
But all over the plant there was people gettin' together and thinkin' and talkin', discussin', dissentin', repentin', revolvin', revolutin', and buildin' coffeeshops and puttin' out newspapers and just generally thinkin' up better ways.
And that brings us back to that little fly speck of a town which seemed to the government as good a place as any for defendin' the country's land, water and air, and flag and national anthem and George Washington, the Constitution and even some of the people . . . the one called Mtn. Home.
So these here folks built a coffeeshop and started putting down the war and the whole entire mess that the government over the ages seems to have made of things and started askin' people to think, and be aware, and love .... just askin' for trouble . . .
Now in this town there was a little local saloon where the talk ran high regarding issues of a political and moral nature among a very unique and usually intoxicated group of responsible cowboys . . . and they called it SWEDES Bar . . .
Now I ain't namin' names or pointin' fingers or making accusations but somebody decided to celebrate Thanksgiving in 1971, by having a great big bonfire ... it was a alcohol fire . . .
But not be discouraged they picked up and moved to a new location where the eternal struggle rages on and on with the only difference that old Swedes is about a mile or so further on down the road . . . and that's a long way to stumble . . .
And the simple moral here is that if you ever see anyone stand up, wave his arms over his headland yell Covered Wagon three times, you just know there's gonna be trouble . . . better look for a change . . . they're trying to make people think!
One day, Dave Davis (just about to receive his discharge as a conscientious objector) walked into the Covered Wagon and convulsed everyone with this song he had written the night before. Unfortunately, his performance was not recorded and within a couple of days he was back home in California. Jim Schaffer tries here to recapture Dave's unforgettable style.
The words speak for themselves, but it helps to know that the old Mountain Home movie theatre, which housed the original Covered Wagon, was burned to the ground in November, 1971. Also, that Swede's Bar, down the road, was the meeting place for assorted drunks, "cowboys," and—it is rumored—police officers during their planning of various attacks on the Wagon and its people. Many of these plans were actually carried out, with the participation of Swede himself at times. Finally, you should know that "Covered Wagon" is an Air Force security term, to be shouted three times while waving one's arms wildly in case of trouble.
