Folk and Traditional Song Lyrics:
Gallo Del Cielo

Gallo Del Cielo

Gallo Del Cielo
(Tom Russell)

Carlos Zaragoza left his home in Casas Grandes when the moon was full
No money in his pocket, just a locket of his sister framed in gold
He headed for El Sueco, stole a rooster called "Gallo del Cielo"
Then he crossed the Rio Grande with that rooster nestled deep beneath his arm.

Gallo del Cielo was a warrior born in heaven, so the legends say
His wings they had been broken, he had one eye rollin' crazy in his head
He's fought a hundred fights, and the legends say that one night near El Sueco
They'd fought Cielo seven times and seven times he'd left brave roosters dead.

   Hola, my Theresa, I am thinking of you now in San Antonio
   I have 27 dollars and the locket with your picture framed in gold
   Tonight I'll bet it all on the fighting spurs of Gallo del Cielo
   Then I'll return to buy the land that Villa stole from father long ago

Outside San Diego in the onion fields of Paco Monteverde
The Pride of San Diego lay sleeping on a fancy bed of silk
And they laughed when Zaragoza pulled the one-eyed del Cielo from beneath his co
at
But they cried when Zaragoza walked away with a thousand dollar bill.

   Hola, my Theresa, I am thinking of you now in Santa Barbara
   I have fifteen hundred dollars and the good luck of your picture framed in go
ld
   Tonight I'll put it all behind the fighting spurs of Gallo del Cielo
   Then I'll return to buy the land that Villa stole from father long ago.

Now the moon has gone to hiding and the lantern light spills shadows on the figh
ting sand
A wicked black named Zorro faces del Cielo in the night
And Carlos Zaragoza fears the tiny crack that runs across his rooster's beak
And he fears that he has lost the fifty thousand that is riding on the fight

   Hola, my Theresa, I am thinking of you now in Santa Clara
   Oh, the money's on the table, I am holding now your good luck framed in gold
   And everything we dream of is riding on spurs of Gallo del Cielo
   Then I'll return to buy the land that Villa stole from father long ago

Then the signal it was given, and the cocks they rose together far above the san
d
Gallo del Cielo sunk a gaff into Zorro's shiny breast
They were separated quickly and they rose and fought each other thirty seven tim
es
And the legends say that everyone agreed that del Cielo fought the best

Then the screams of Zaragoza filled the night outside the town of Santa Clara
As the beak of del Cielo lay broken like a shell within his hand
And they say that Zaragoza screamed a curse upon the bones of Pancho Villa
When Zorro rose up one last time and drove del Cielo to the sand.

   Hola, my Theresa, I am thinking of you now in San Francisco
   There's no money in my pocket, I no longer have your picture framed in gold
   I buried it last evening with the bones of my beloved del Cielo
   I'll not return to buy the land that Villa stole from father long ago

Do the rivers still run muddy outside of my beloved Casas Grandes?
Does the scar upon my brother's face turn red when he hears mention of my name?
Do the people of El Sueco still curse the theft of Gallo del Cielo?
Tell my family not to worry, I will not return to cause them shame.

Published by Tom Russell in 1979

JRO