The Haunted Ranch
Astrikos Katoikos
When I was a cattle driver, in a time long gone away
Something happened to me I still recall to this day
I was driving a herd through the wilds of Goiás
With seven fellow riders, and I rode as the foreman boss
When we reached Catalão, past the hills of Minas Gerais
I delivered all the cattle, locked them safe inside the pens that night
But I slept with troubled longing, missing home and all my kin
At the rooster's cry by sunrise, I saddled up my weary horse and rode alone again
For nine long hours I traveled through the rising countryside
Toward the fall of afternoon came a drizzling silver sky
Not a living soul around me, save the vultures circling high
And the rain grew ever heavier through the ghostly mist rolling by
My exhausted horse kept climbing every muddy mountain side
Then I prayed unto Our Lady for her holy grace divine
At that moment down below me, near the shadow of a rise
Stood an old abandoned farmhouse, so I chose to spend the night in that forsaken land of Minas
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
I hung up all my saddle gear and turned my chestnut loose
With splinters from the broken walls I lit the old wood stove
Dried my clothes beside the fire, laid my blanket on the floor
While the little shack kept trembling underneath the thunder's roar
Then a strange and dreadful feeling slowly filled me up with fear
I could sense some cursed presence drawing ever near
With my skin alive in shivers, I whispered every prayer
Curled up tight beneath my blanket when I heard low moans arising from the cellar down below
That awful groaning sound kept crawling closer through the storm
At first I thought somebody there was wandering in the rain forlorn
While the leaking roof kept dripping, came the voice of a dying man
Like a soul condemned to suffering in some dark forgotten land
This old house is truly haunted, so I thought in rising fright
Crossed myself a hundred times and kept on praying through the night
Then a blinding flash of lightning filled the room with ghostly white
And beside me through the doorway hung a dead man from the rafters swaying slowly in the light
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Then I drew my old revolver with its finely sighted steel
And I shouted: Hellfire's coming, defend yourself, Satan
Whether I had missed or hit him, I could never truly tell
But I know the dreadful moaning vanished silent as a spell
Morning light was slowly breaking and the Sun began to rise
So I rode away still heading toward Querência dos Pinhais
I gave up the life of cattle, changed the course of all my days
Sent the cowboys on their separate roads and never drove another herd through the wilds of Goiás again