The Ballad of Edward Abbey

[Verse 1]
It was in the town of Tucson in Nineteen Eighty-Three
A man named Edward Abbey come a walking up to me
He pulled his cigar from his mouth, said, "I smell lawyers here"
The politician, running-dogs, they crawled away in fear

[Chorus]
Singing do-ra-do
Singing do-ra-day

[Verse 2]
Ed walked across the desert at least a thousand times
He spoke with javelina, slept 'neath piñon pine
And if he saw a billboard there, he'd chop that bastard down
Said, if a man can't piss in his own front yard, he'd never keep close to town

[Chorus]
Singing do-ra-do
Singing do-ra-day
Lord, I wish Edward Abbey were walking round today

[Verse 3]
Ed had a taste for women, in fact he married quite a few
He said, "I'd fall in love, boys, but I'm only passing through
You know I like 'em all, boys, and some more than the rest
I've tried my hand at monogamy, now I'm off to save the west

[Chorus]
Singing do-ra-do
Singing do-ra-day

[Verse 4]
Ed died one day at sundown in his Tucson riding shack
They wrapped him in a sleeping bag and drove him way out back
Beneath the wild saguaro, the coyotes chewed his bones
And on a hidden marker, was 'No Comment', carved in stone

[Chorus]
Singing do-ra-do
Singing do-ra-day
Yeah, I wish Edward Abbey were walking round today

[Verse 5]
Now I'm living in the desert, but the town is a-closing in
Those cracker box developments, Ed would call a sin
We stole this land from the Mexican and now we'll sell it back
And they'll live like mortgage prisoners in those goddamn housing tracts

[Verse 6]
Tell me, who votes for the mountain lion, tell me, who votes for the fox
Who votes for the spotted owl who hides there in the rocks
I wish that Ed would come again with a chainsaw in his hand
And carve all up those housing tracts and take on back the land

[Chorus]
Singing do-ra-do
Singing do-ra-day
Yeah, I wish Edward Abbey were walking round today