Everett Ruess

Dave Alvin: Everett Ruess Portland, OR. 2010
I was born Everett Ruess
I been dead for sixty years
I was just a young boy
in my twenties
the day I disappeared
into the Grand Escalante badlands
near the Utah and Arizona line
and they never found
my body, boys
or understood my mind

I grew up in California
I loved my family and my home
but I ran away to the High Sierra
where I could live free and alone
and folks said
He’s just another wild kid
and he’ll grow out of it in time,
but they never found
my body, boys
or understood my mind

I broke broncos
with the cowboys
I sang healing songs
with the Navajo
I did the snake dance
with the Hopi
and I drew pictures everywhere I go
then I swapped
all my drawings
for provisions to get
what I needed to get by
and they never found
my body, boys
or understood my mind

well I hate your crowded cities
with your sad
and hopeless mobs
and I hate your
grand cathedrals
where you try to trap God
‘cause I know God is here
in the canyons
with the rattlesnakes
and the pinon pines
and they never found
my body, boys
or understood my mind

they say I was killed
by a drifter
or I froze to death in the snow
maybe mauled by a wildcat
or I’m living down in Mexico
but my end
it doesn’t really matter
all that counts is
how you live your life
and they never found my body, boys
or understood my mind
you give your dreams away as you get older
but I never gave up mine
and they’ll never find my body, boys
or understand my mind

--Dave Alvin
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woodcuts by Everett Ruess