Lomax-a-Day, Day 23

"A man of the old West hardly ever got downhearted about anything unless something happened to the woman he loved and was married to. They were a quiet, solemn kind of lot, mighty short on kissing and all that stuff women are supposed to set such store by, but I reckon they loved their wives as much as any men that ever lived, even if they rarely said so." (Lomax, 393)

"Colorado Trail" perfectly captures that deep but understated love. Clocking in at just under a minute, the song packs an eternity of longing into 32 words. When the man of the old West can't himself weep and wail for his lost love, he lets the rain and wind do it for him. It's telling that the only time the singer says more than he needs to is when he repeats the word "along"--"all along, along, along, the Colorado Trail." So simply put, he's doomed forever to ramble that trail, forever to remember his Laura.