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Keeper of the Plains

by Lex Helgerson Rides Again

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about

If you were fan of Who Can Sleep and listened to our Springsteen album, this track may sound a little familiar. I had been using our cover of "Darlington County" in the documentary I made about my dad and me, but I knew I would never get the rights. The melodic ideas and simple guitar line were ours: I just had to change the words and we'd have our own tune.

It's weird - I'm actually not sure how I feel about it, taking something you already made, going back in and changing it completely while keeping it the same. Does that even make sense? Maybe it feels a little unholy, but I actually like what we made. And "Keeper of the Plains" suits the movie, Age Group Winner. The 'sha la la' parts happen at just the right moments.

While I invented the song's story, it's worth noting that the Keeper of the Plains is a 44 foot tall steel statue overlooking the Arkansas Rivers in downtown Wichita (there's a big river and a little river and the Keeper of the Plains marks their meeting). It was designed by the Kiowa Comanche artist Blackbear Bosin, and erected on May 18th, 1974.

If you ever visit Wichita, and I am always hoping to visit Wichita, you can't miss it.
The Keeper of the Plains ... it's clearly had a profound and far reaching effect on me.

lyrics

Seventeen, dripping and ready
Laura's calling from her daddy's phone
Pick you up, sneak out the back door
Looking for fun, breaking out of home

Laura’s got her mama’s Cutlass
Light blue, like her eyes on a rainy day
August beat, Sedgwick County
Lips burn like fire out on the plain

Laura’s laughing, lollipopping, we got rock n roll music
Blasting off the T-Top

Driving down, Douglas at Osage
Davy’s drinking at the Delano
Laura slows, twilight’s heavy
Linen skirt cutting round, show me a little more
Kitten heels, ankles preening
Laura calls to Davy dragging on a Pall Mall
Every night it’s a Springsteen rumble
In my heart, I want away from it all

Thunder rolling in a purple sky
Air like ash tainted in a stockyard blue
Me and you, we could
Sha la la
Sha la la
Sha la la

Laura slips in through the back door
Lets go my hand
Chickadee flies towards the Arkansas
The Keeper of the Plains is watching you
The Keeper of the Plains is watching you
The Keeper of the Plains is watching you
The Keeper of the Plains is watching you
The Keeper of the Plains is watching you

credits

released December 2, 2022
Guitar and vocals: Lex Helgerson
Keys, Synths, soundscape: Dean Vivirito
Produced by Dean Vivirito

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Lex Helgerson Rides Again Portland, Oregon

"One of our favorite singular discoveries this year" - Ear to the Ground Music; "Ethereal arrangements and warm, tender vocals...stunning kaleidoscope of sound" - Earmilk. With a keen flair for humor and melancholy, Helgerson's voice effortlessly reaches into the deep and subtle places where our emotions and memories live. Gothic folk soundscape with catchy hooks and memorable lyrics + m/f harms. ... more

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