Dm G
It was a dark dusty road in west Texas
C Am Dm
Where a young cowboy thumbed down a ride
G
Got in the truck with a suitcase and a fiddle
C Am F
And a bag that he kept by his side.
G
The farmer could see that this young man was broken
C Am F
By the thunder that peeled in his mind
G
So he offered his bottle of tequilla
C Am Dm
"Tune the radio and see what you can find”
G
By and by the young man grew a bit more social
C Am Dm
Concealing the worries in his head
G
Said he didn't care for the mariachi on the radio
C Am F
Would he mind if he tuned to something else instead?
G
The moon was blue, the night was black as a bible,
C Am F
And the radio glowed upon his face
G
He grew still as he fooled with the dial
C Am Dm
Tuning signals that came from outer space
G
Adjusting the mirror the better to regard him
C Am Dm
The farmer asked how far he planned to go.
G
The cowboy asked if he would take him across the border
C Am F
And after that he really didn't know
G
The farmer said “Eho, I can see that you are troubled
C Am F
By things I don't think you can out run
G
But I will take you far across the border,
C Am Dm
If you'll use my ears and tell me what you've done.”
G
They kept the silence for another mile,
C Am Dm
Then the cowboy flicked his cigarette outside.
G
Then he took another pull from the bottle,
C Am F
While the truth search for words on which to ride.
G
He said “I fell in love with a girl who played the fiddle
C Am F
And the way she held the bow in her hand.
G
But my heart was broken by a promise
C Am Dm
She had given to a luckier man.
G
Before I could go I just knew I had to find her,
C Am Dm
Take with me the memory of her face.
G
The night was starless as I stood before the lady
C Am F
Tuned in signals that came from outer space.
G
No one could find her on the day she was to marry
C Am F
And they left the church fearful of the cause.
G
The next day someone found a woman's body,
C Am Dm
But no one could be sure just who she was.
G
Sometimes when I'm dialing on the radio
C Am Dm
I think I hear a fiddle start to play.
G
But I can never tune in the signal,
C Am F
And I never hear what she's trying to say.
G
Farmer said “Eho I don't think that you will find her,
C Am F
And this journey will only lead you way to hell.
G
You must go back and stand upon the gallows
C Am Dm
I reckon that's what the signals trying to tell.”
G
Police stopped them as they tried to cross at Roma,
C Am Dm
And he nodded when they read him his rights.
G
And in the truck he left the suitcase and the fiddle
C Am F
And the bag he'd kept by his side.
G
The farmer took the bag and looked there in side it,
C Am F
And was struck by the beauty in her face.
G
In the dark with all the sorrow and the horror
C Am
And the signals that came from outer space
