Verse 1:
C F C
It was a funeral on the prairie, all his children gathered round
C
Put him in a horse drawn wagon, drove him into town
C F C
In the dark of February snow covered up the ground
C F C
In a pioneer church made out of sod we sang A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
Verse 2:
C F C
He was born in 1898 when the plains burned red and green
C
To God fearing pilgrim parents, the twelfth kid of thirteen
C F C
They broke up that ground yard by yard with a mule and an oxen team
C F C
Now we?re burying him out on the lone prairie where the coyotes howl and the wind blows free
Verse 3:
C F C
Back at the house we pushed that big oak table against the wall
C
Built a fire in the cast iron cook stove, made room for one and all
C F C
The children and grandchildren piled our snow boots in the hall
C F C
The women worked like an oiled machine; the coffee boiled and the kettle screamed
Verse 4:
C F C
Then the old folks took to telling tales of back when they were young
C
And it weren't too long before that four string banjo began to strum
C F C
Mom played the fiddle and my Uncle Lars played his accordion
C F C
The old farmers cried in their flannel sleeves when we sang that song from the old country
Verse 5:
C F C
That was long ago and as the years go by I still forget he?s gone
C
But I look out on the open plains and I know his soul lives on
C F C
He?s the red sky mirrored on the lake, he?s the first cold light of dawn
C F C
He?s a coyote?s wail, he?s a winter storm, he?s the August wind blowing through the corn