Song title: Visitation at Fort Horn
Visitation at Fort Horn
Behind the wals where heat lightning falls
On five starred gnat-faced princess
The buffalo man shoots at the tin cats
Turns and shouts “Children, blow your bridges”
On death row halls where dustmen stall
Where time’s an enemy and a friend
At night jackals crawl from the cracks in the walls
And salvation is never spoken
Morning sickness breaks the garrison gate
The cavalry cries for treason
The soldier strokes his pony and goes to shine the Captain’s sword
In this young boy’s eyes lie reason
And the sergeant bursts in and cries “I caught a prisoner, Captain, a prisoner, what ho !”
The Captain looks up and says “Let her go”
“But Captain, she patrols the light ships that patrol the sea around
The rainbow tips, whose bagpiper wail unbroken
She haunts the nigth and the dawnin’ light
On her sounds and words your cavalry chokin’ ”
The Captain says “Have no fear, boys for what you hear
Because danger can’t be spoken ”
The whirlwind crackles and I hear the rustle of shackles
From the stockade door bursts Merlin
His eyes red, and swollen, like they’ve been pushed into the sun
His robes aflame and burnin’
He jumps a horse, tries to get away
But he gets caught in his eyes, tangled in his eyes
He falls to the ground, his neck is broken
His spirit rises high in the western sky
The magician lies an empty token
the sergeant walks over and kicks his body
And says “Captain, he’s dead - What shall we do with him ?”
The Captain says “Hang him
For though his live moments on this earth are well spent
And I can se his body is sure well bent
It’s magic that must be broken ”
Now night cradles low
The penniless weed plays wrath felt in the Captain’s corner
With anvil spread wide, the Captain glides
Each blow to scare her, not to hurt her
She spits “what truth” at the Captain’s boots
But he holds his rage suspended
The sergeant comes in stinkin’ of soldier’s gin
And cries “Captain, the storm she blows unending”
Oh and the lightning cracked and the sky was hacked
By dagger rain it was torn
And the yard was charged into a raging sea
And the Captain ran crazily
For the first time in his life, in the Captain’s heart fear was born
The Captain storms out on the stoop, panic strikes
He sees Merlin’s hung body stretched by the neck
Silhouetted on his door
The sergeant screams “Captain, look high, look to the sky !”
Some whirling, swirling emission ...
But the Captain falls to his knees crying silent pleas
‘Cause he knows, he knows, and he thinks to himself
“A Magician...” Notes:
London Publishing Demos 1972
This song has never been published on any official release.
Very few performances of this songs are known (to me, at least!):
- 01/02/1973 Max's Kansas City, New York,NY ,USA during the Greetings Tour
- 02/02/1973 Max's Kansas City, New York,NY ,USA during the Greetings Tour
Data from the www.brucespringsteen.it database
First known live performance: 01/02/1973 Max's Kansas City, New York,NY ,USA
Last known live performance: 02/02/1973 Max's Kansas City, New York,NY ,USA
Song 'history':
Played live 2 time(s) during the so-called 'Greetings Tour'
.
Keep in mind that only a small amount of the setlists of these years has surfaced, so it may have been played a lot more.
Apart from the above live performances, the song was recorded for the Laurel Canyon / London Publishing demos
Data from the www.brucespringsteen.it database