Lay Your Burdens Down

In 1997 my wife and I took a vacation trip up U.S. 395 along the Eastern Sierra mountains. We spend several days wandering around Lee Vining, Mammoth Lakes, and Bodie. During that trip we discovered the "legends" of a couple of  "Ladies of the Night" : Rosa May and Lottie Johl.

Lottie was a good girl fallen from grace who "worked" the mining town of Bodie. One of the local butchers Eli Johl, fell in love with her. Against her better judgement they married. The "good" side of town would have nothing to do with her. In the end she died under mysterious circumstances... a medicine that had been prescribed for her was in fact laced with poison. When she died the towns folk refused to allow her to be buried in the town cemetery.  see http://www.explorehistoricalif.com/feb2006.html if you'd like the whole tale.

Rosa May was the "archetype" of the "Hooker with the Heart of Gold".  For more about her see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_May  and http://www.weeklypioneer.com/2009/07/rosa-may.html

In any case we thought we might write a stage play about them... not much came of that but  this song.

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Lay Your Burdens Down

Some stories have no beginning
Others have no middle or end
Here he is on the edge again
Abandoned by his friends
     And he wants to tell her
     He wants her to know
     He wants to tell her
     But his heart says it's time to go
     His heart says its time to go

She cast her fate to the four winds
And followed them where they will
From the kingdoms of Heaven
Down into the Darkness Deep and still
     And she wants to tell him
     She wants him to see
     She wants to tell him
     But her heart says this cannot be
     Her heart says this cannot be

Down on the street drifts a melody
It's the song of a love un-spoken
For if you never ever say a single word
Your word can never be broken
     But I want you to listen
     Can you hear the sound?
     I want you to listen
     When your heart says lay your burdens down
     When your heart says lay your burdens down
   
Somewhere above some lonely street
Two hearts beat as One
And what once was torn and broken
Now outshines the mornin' sun
     So I want to tell you
     I want you to know
     I want to tell you
     But the words your heart already knows
     The words your heart already knows