(C.w. mccall, bill fries, chip davis) Bill fries says that this is based on a true story from the late '60s, when a band of hippies rolled into telluride and decided to stay. One day about four or five years ago We is settin' at the conoco station Kickin' tires, and swattin' flies, And discussin' the state of the union When right out in front of the baptist church Come a big ol' purple school bus Had astrological signs upon it And thirty-five hippies and dogs inside About half of 'em went for the courthouse lawn And them dogs commenced on the fireplug Rest of 'em set there starin' at us And I says, roy, go get your flit gun He says, which is the hippies? and which is the dogs? I says, beats the hell outta me, roy. What they was, was a bunch a' them crispy critters And their leader was a space cadet He says, sagittarius, we has arrived. Prepare to disembark, men. Get the incense goin' and the sitar out We gonna camp in the city park, man. I says, boys, let me explain the situation to ya. A: you're gettin' me down And b: we got us a leash law here And c: you in the wrong town. You drop one string a' beads in that there park And you gonna see a whole lotta stars. You got fifteen seconds to get out of town, boys, Or we gonna blow ya ta mars. Well, they all got back in the purple bus And proceeded to the city limits. Then the telephone rang, was the swimmin' pool Says a mess a' wild critters was in it! So we all got in the marshal's plymouth (Which is always at the conoco station) Went flashin' on down to the swimmin' pool To give them critters a citation By the time we arrived, it was too damn late Them critters is all had their pants down Them dogs was tearin' the bathhouse apart, And they's after the fish in the fish pond! I says, roy, you get the one in the silver t-shirt And I'll get the rest with a net. We gonna have a jail full a' naked crispy critters And a drip-dry space cadet. [You've watched the dukes of hazzard, haven't you? c'mon, admit it; nobody's looking. well, at this point in the song there's a short interlude which resembles a car chase on dukes. there's banj Kin' and yee-hawin' and a general sense of raucous abandon. oh, yeah, and a few dog barks. it's round-up time at the swimmin' pool.] Well, we gave 'em hell, but we lost the war 'Cause them critters outnumbered us So they moved in and set up camp And they lived in that purple school bus Six weeks later, there was nothin' in town But eighty-four dogs and a head shop Sellin' dried up weeds, and sunflower seeds, And astrological postcards Yeah, critters took over the city council And the dogs all barked their brains out And the whole damn town was crispy critters And the mayor was a space cadet

She was born one mornin' on a san juan summer Back in eighteen and eighty and one She was a beautiful daughter of the d and r g And she weighed about a thousand ton Well, it's a-forty-five mile through the animas canyon So they set her on the narra gauge She drank a whole lot a' water And she ate a lot of coal And they called her the silverton (silverton train) [Chorus] Here comes the silverton, up from durango Here comes the silverton, a-shovelin' coal Here comes the silverton, up from the canyon See the smoke and hear the whistle blow Well, now listen to the whistle in the rock wood cut On the high line to silverton town And you're gonna get a shiver When you check out the river Which is four hundred feet straight down Take on some water at the needleton tank And then a-struggle up a two-five grade And by the time you get your hide Past the snowshed slide You've had a ride on the silverton (silverton train) [Chorus] Here comes the silverton, up from durango Here comes the silverton, a-shovelin' coal Here comes the silverton, up from the canyon See the smoke and hear the whistle blow [Musical interlude here. nice violins, and the kettle drums boom well.] [Chorus] Here comes the silverton, up from durango Here comes the silverton, a-shovelin' coal Here comes the silverton, up from the canyon See the smoke and hear the whistle blow [If the next line seems a bit familiar, you're correct. chug-chug, toot-toot, off we go.] Now, down by the station, early in the mornin' There's a whole lot a' people in line And they all got a ticket On the train to yesterday And it's a-gonna leave on time Well, it's a forty-five mile up the animas canyon So they run her on the narra gauge She takes a whole lot a' water And she needs a lot of coal And they call her the silverton (silverton train) [Chorus] Here comes the silverton, up from durango Here comes the silverton, a-shovelin' coal Here comes the silverton, up from the canyon See the smoke and hear the whistle blow [Fade out] Here comes the silverton, up from durango Here comes the silverton, a-shovelin' coal Here comes the silverton, up from the canyon See the smoke and hear the whistle blow Here comes the silverton, up from durango Here comes the silverton, a-shovelin' coal Here comes the silverton, up from the canyon See the smoke and hear the whistle blow

Me an' Earl was haulin' chickens On the flatbed out of Wiggins And we'd spent all night On the uphill side Of thirty-seven miles of Hell Called Wolf Creek Pass Which is up on the Great Divide We was settin' there suckin' toothpicks An' drinkin' Nehis and onion soup mix And I says: "Earl, let's mail a card to mother And then send them chickens On down to the other side Yeah, let's give 'em a ride" Wolf Creek Pass Way up on the Great Divide Truckin' on down the other side Well, Earl put down his bottle Mashed his foot down on the throttle And then a couple a boobs With a thousand cubes Within a nineteen-forty-eight Peterbilt Screamed to life We woke up the chickens We roared up offa that shoulder Sprayin' pine cones, rocks, and boulders And put four hundred head Of them Rhode Island Reds And a couple a' burnt-out roosters on the line Look out below 'Cause here we go! Wolf Creek Pass Way up on the Great Divide Truckin' on down the other side Well, we commenced ta truckin' And them hens commenced ta cluckin' And then Earl took out a match And scratched his pants And lit up the unused half of a dollar cigar And took a puff Says: "My, ain't this pretty up here?!" I says: "Earl, this hill can spill us You better slow down Or you gonna kill us" "Just make one mistake And it's the Pearly Gates For them eighty-five crates Of USDA-approved cluckers You wanna hit second?" Wolf Creek Pass Way up on the Great Divide Truckin' on down the other side Well, Earl grabbed on the shifter And he stabbed her into fifth gear And then the chromium-plated Fully-illuminated Genuine accessory shift knob Come right off in his hand I says: "You wanna screw that thing back on, Earl?" He was tryin' to thread it on there When the fire fell offa his cigar And dropped on down Sorta rolled around And then lit in the cuff of Earl's pants And burned a hole in his sock Yeah, sorta set him right on fire I looked on outta the window And I started countin' phone poles Goin' by at the rate of four to the seventh power Well I put two and two together And added twelve and carried five And come up with twenty-two thousand Telephone poles an hour I looked at Earl and his eyes was wide His lip was curled And his leg was fried And his hand was froze to the wheel Like a tongue to a sled In the middle of a blizzard I says: Earl, "I'm not the type to complain But the time has come for me to explain That if you don't apply some brake real soon They're gonna have to pick us up With a stick and a spoon" Well, Earl reared back And cocked his leg Stepped down as hard as he could on the brake And the pedal went clear to the floor And stayed right there on the floor And he says it was sorta like steppin' on a plum Well, from there on down It just wasn't real pretty It was hairpin county And switchback city One of 'em looked like a can fulla worms Another one looked like malaria germs Right in the middle of the whole damn show Was a real nice tunnel Now wouldn't you know? Sign says clearance to the twelve-foot line But the chickens was stacked to thirteen-nine Well we shot that tunnel at a hundred-and-ten Like gas through a funnel and eggs through a hen We took that top row of chickens off Slicker than scum off a Louisiana swamp Went down and around and around and down We run outta ground at the edge of town Bashed into the side of a feed store In downtown Pagosa Springs Wolf Creek Pass Way up on the Great Divide Truckin' on down the other side Wolf Creek Pass Way up on the Great Divide Truckin' on down the other side