Cool Water

Written by Nolan; Sung by L. Buckingham

All day I face
The barren waste
Without the taste of water
Cool water
Poor Dan and I
With throats burned dry
And so I cry for water
Cool, clear water

Keep moving, Dan
Don't you listen to him, Dan
He's a devil, not a man
And he spreads the burning sand with water
Dan, don't you see that big green tree
Where the water's runnin free?
And it's waiting there for me and you

Shadows sway
They seem to say
"Tonight we'll pray for water"
Cool water
Way up there
They'll hear our prayer
And show us where there's water
Cool, clear water

Keep moving, Dan
Don't you listen to him, Dan
He's a devil, not a man
And he spreads the burning sand with water
Dan, don't you see that big green tree
Where the water's runnin free?
And it's waiting there for me and you

All day I face
The barren waste
Without the taste of water
Cool, clear water
Cool, clear water

---

WEBMISTRESS speculates:

Since I discovered (OK, I was told by Jessica) this was a cover, I'm going to say that he probably recorded it (besides the fact that he liked it, obviously!) because around this time he was doing a lot of retro-sounding stuff. A lot of the songs off of Law and Order, plus Holiday Road and Dancing Across the U.S.A off of the National Lampoon's Soundtrack (all of which were released within about two years of each other) have a retro feel. I gotta say, though, that I adore that sound! At any rate, if you're doing that kind of music anyway, what not cover some of the honest-to-goodness oldies? Oh, by the way, John McVie is singing the low part on this!!

 

JESSICA speculates:

Cool Water is a cover of an old folk song by Sons of the Pioneers. Maybe it's an example of the kind of music that inspired him?

 

DOUGLAS speculates:

This is a song which has very deep personal emotions for me. It is amazing how music can reach directly to the emotions.

I was about twelve years old when I found a 78 disk with "cool water" in the bottom of the gramaphone player which we had in my home. It was a lady singer with a gravely voice. I believe it was a 'hit' in 1948 - the year I was born. It made a big impression on me. I don't know why. It had a deep emotional impression with the words and and music which reaches to the soul and has been there latent ever since.

It may seem silly to relate but I have always had a respect since for the amazing facility which is completely taken for granted in the western world but which is vital to life itself - Water - and which is a matter of life and death in less fortunate countries. I have tried to impress on my children the importance of not wasting this vital resource (to little avail). The song made that much of an impression upon me as a child.

That was forty five years ago and I heard it again today on the internet - it reduced me to tears which I could not control. There were many emotions at play not the least of which was the direct paintive lament of the person in the song and his horse Dan desperate for water in the desert. Strange that it should have that effect, but that I suppose is the power of music.