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Letter From San Francisco

from Settler by Malcolm MacWatt

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lyrics

Dear mother I wish I could tell you that I made my fortune in gold
But I squandered away all the money you saved to send me out here with your hopes

I was driven here by despair and hunger
Hard times for family back home
By wind in the sail and wheel upon rail
I came here with fire in my soul
But I never got past San Francisco
Saloons and the opium dens
The card games and girls became my whole world
And I got me a load of new friends

I bought all my comforts with money
For all of my pleasures I've paid
The whores and the whiskey, the tears of the poppy
I spent much more than I made
My friends left along with my money
And the money left a long time ago
It went along for the ride with my health and my pride
Now I’m sick and I’m lonely and cold

Ch: Now all the gold in San Francisco
Won’t buy back the life I wasted away
I’m gonna die here in San Francisco
Please send this letter back home when I’m in my grave

I’ve sold the watch that you gave me
I sold my warm winter coat
I’ll buy one last night of earthly delight
With women and whisky and smoke
My heaven’s a whorehouse in Frisco
An opium pipe is my dream
And a bottle of booze and a hand I can’t lose
Will give me back my self-esteem


So mother I wish I could tell you that I made my fortune in gold
But I squandered away all the money you saved an that story’s about to be told

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from Settler, released November 25, 2021

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Malcolm MacWatt London, UK

“MacWatt will doubtless be considered among the best of the new breed of folksingers and songwriters, who speak of the past as a way to perhaps understand it and move forward” Stephen Rapid, Lonesome Highway

“He shines as a singer and he shines as an interpreter of the eternal folk songbook,” Tom Brosseau, The Great American Folk Show, North Dakota
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