| Gallo del Cielo words and music by Tom Russell Carlos Saragosa left his home in Casas Grandes when the moon was full He had no money in his pocket, just a locket of his sister framed in Gold He headed for el Sueco, stole a rooster named Gallo Del Cielo Then he crossed the Rio Grande with that rooster nestled deep within his arm Gallo del Cielo was a fighter born in heaven so the legends say His wings they had been broken, he had one eye rollin' crazy in his head He'd fought a hundred fights and the legends say that one night near El Sueco He fought Cielo seven times, seven times he left brave roosters dead Hola my Teresa I'm thinking of you now in San Antonio I have 27 dollars and the good luck of your good luck of your picture framed in gold Tonight I'll put it all on the fighting spurs of Gallo Del Cielo Then I'll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago Outside of San Diego in the Onion fields of Paco Monte Verde The Pride of San Diego lay sleeping on a fancy bed of silk And they laughed when Saragosa pulled the one-eyed Del Cielo from beneath his coat But they cried when Saragosa walked away with a thousand dollar bill Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in Santa Barbara I have fifteen hundred dollars and the good luck of your picture framed in gold Tonight I'll put it all on the fighting spurs of Gallo Del Cielo Then I'll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago Now the moon has gone to hiding and the lantern light spills shadows on the fighting sand A wicked black named Zorro faces Del Cielo in the sand But Carlos Saragosa fears the tiny crack that runs across his roosters beak And he fears that he has lost the 50,000 dollars riding on the fight Hola my Teresa I'm thinking of you now in Santa Clara The money's on the table, I'm holding to your good luck framed in gold Everything we dream of is riding on the spurs of del Cielo Then I'll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago The signal it was given and the roosters rose together far above the sand Gallo del Cielo sunk a gaff into Zorro's shiny breast They were separated quickly but they rose and fought each other thirty seven times The legends say that everyone agreed that Gallo del Cielo fought the best But then the screams of Saragosa filled the night outside the town of Santa Clara As the beak of del Cielo lay broken like a shell within his hand And they say that Saragosa screamed a curse upon the bones of Pancho Villa As Zorro rose up one more time and drove del Cielo through the sand Hola my Teresa I'm thinking of you now in San Francisco I have no money in my pocket I no longer have your good luck framed in gold I buried it last evening with the bones of my beloved del Cielo and I will not return to buy the land that Villa stole long ago Do the rivers still run muddy outside of my beloved Casas Grandes? Does the scar upon my brother's face turn red when he hears mention of my name? And do the people of El Sueco still curse the theft of Gallo Del Cielo? Tell my family not to worry, I will not return to cause them shame. |