Max Stalling The Pila Song
The wind was hot and the sun was hard
I was beat and my mare was tired
And the fence line I was riding stretched forever
My mind drifted off and back
To Carmella and her heart of black
And the things that she’d said to me yesterday
So when the boss sent me out checking fences
I was glad cause I knew that it meant
That I could spend some time out all alone
I wiped the sweat that stung my eyes
Looked up and I realized
That I was coming up on the south windmill
The concrete tank stood there beside
The water trough that it supplied
When the trough was full the mill could keep on pumping
& pumping & pumping
So we drank deep from the shallow trough
And wetting my hair gave me the thought
That a swim in that big tank might cool me down
So I shucked my duds and hung ‘em on the fence
Climbed the wires to reach the rim
Pulled myself on up and jumped right in
The water was cool down underneath
But deeper than I thought it’d be
There was no ladder and the walls were slick with moss
Sure enough I got cooled down
When I found I had no way out
And the thought of a rat in a feed bin chilled my blood
Well, at first I laughed at the fix I was in
Then my troubles all sank in
Without some help I was there to stay
I screamed and clawed to no avail
Till dignity and voice had failed
I wore my fingers down on those damned walls
I marked the time with the windmill’s shade
Passing cross my mossy grave
And the cows coming to water twice a day
I always figured lightning strike
Or rattlesnake or barroom fight
Would do me in, not some Mexican rose
The fact is I was hot and dumb
Struck stupid by the sun and love
So on the one hand I guess she’d played her part
Through all that time I cussed her lots
But I cussed myself the most because
I had not looked before I leapt
Now overhead an eagle soars
And I smell rain coming from the north
I wonder if she’ll even shed one tear
Just one tear over me
Just one tear over me.
