High Desert, New Mexico

Early morning, freedom calling

one more look, before these wheels turn

A packed-up car down an empty road

Got everything I own

Forsaken skies

Goodbye, Goodbye

The winds of change

At my side

A few more days to Santa Fe

Into the dusty wild

High Desert, New Mexico

Heavenly white sands aglow

Your sky is the deepest blue I’ve known

High Desert, New Mexico

The road is my day, my night, my bed

In the arms of a sunset burning red

Shadows reach across the plains

Angels rise

Sacred skies, cosmic highs

The winds of change

Changing time

Better days are waiting

Inside these boundless miles

High Desert, New Mexico

Heavenly touches of red and gold

Mountains fade

As the night winds blow

High Desert, New Mexico

Where your spirits soar

I will follow your light and dark

And dream into an endless sea of stars

Echoes in the cool, cool night

Me and the road and a billion lights

Chasing fate across these plains

Angels rise again

The sound of the river’s voices near

A breath of sweetness in the air

Silhouettes of ancient stone

Calling me home

High Desert, New Mexico

Heavenly brushes of purple and rose

Mountains rise

As the dawn unfolds

High Desert, New Mexico –

Set me free, soothe my soul

High Desert, New Mexico

I hear you calling me, calling me home

High Desert, New Mexico

High Desert, New Mexico

© March 2023 Ruthann Baler

All rights reserved.

GOODBYE HOUSTON

Cold wind sweep the shadows

Hard rain break the heat

Old car take me cruising

Flatlands be a friend to me

I spy from my mirror

Tall lights left behind

I can feel his eyes on me

Pulling me back in time

Goodbye Houston

Big Sky

Red Sun

In the early morning he will know

That I have gone

Heart of mine

So long

Train lights flash before me

Highway reach the stars

Old car cross these tracks

And take me where the mountains are

I see broken visions

Tall dreams left behind

I can feel his eyes on me

I can see us in my mind, my mind  

Goodbye Houston

Big Sky

Red Sun

In the early morning, he will know

That I have gone

Heart of mine

So long

Sunrise break the darkness

State line set me free

Old car keep me moving

Tomorrow be kind to me

I hear that whistle fading

New days are calling me

When I see the northern sky

We’ll be just a memory

Goodbye Houston

Big Sky

Red Sun

In the early morning, he will know

That I have …

I have gone away

I won’t be coming around this Texas interstate

© 2025 Ruthann BalerDescription text goes here

The Trouble I’m In

Highway calls, I’m following a dream

Driving down 90 in the Texas heat

People round here, well they welcome me

But they say I should be married at twenty-three

Well I’m trying to make a living here on my own

While the Sunday folk try to save my soul

They say the Good Book says repent for your sins

I guess I don’t know about the trouble I’m in

Two thousand miles away from home

Where the armadillo roam

Where the prairie meets the sky

I’m living on a dollar and a dream                

this old cheap guitar and me

We’re getting famous at the corner dive

Main Street, county seat, sheriff walks by

Staring at this Yankee with suspicious eyes

He says “strangers come and strangers go,

but you’re the strangest that we’ve ever known”

You don’t go to church and you talk too fast

We think you’re trying to run from your checkered past

He said the Good Book says repent for your sins

I guess I don’t know about the trouble I’m in

Two thousand miles away from home

Where the armadillo roam

Where the prairie meets the sky

I’m living on a dollar and a dream

this old cheap guitar and me

We’re getting famous at the corner dive

Closing time in this dusty town

I hear the midnight train come round

Cowboy says just one more song

But it’s time for me to get moving on

The highway calls, I won’t settle down  

No ring for me, no wedding gown

I know the Good Book says repent for your sins

I guess I’ll take my chances with the trouble I’m in

Two thousand miles away from home

Where the armadillo roam

Where the prairie meets the sky

I’m  living on a dollar and a dream

Oh the trouble that I’ve seen

That I’m headed for next time

I’m living on a dollar and a dream

Oh the trouble that I’ve seen

That I’m headed for next time

© 2024 Ruthann Baler

 Description text goes here

The Coldest Day of the Year (January 25, 2021)

High on a hill

Where the bald eagle flies

Where the evergreens pray

To the mid-winter sky

Footsteps approach

On sacred ground

To the blindness of light

And the deafness of sound

High on a hill

Where the bitter wind wails

Where the crest of the snow

Meets the heavenly veil

Centuries of earth

Meet the beckoning day

Go follow the whispers and wings

And be on your way

Soar like the eagle

To the mountains beyond

Rise like the morning fog over the pond

Past the woods and the farm and the stone walls and deer

Feeling your warmth

On the coldest day of the year

God on a hill

A soldier’s salute

A lonesome call

To the red, white, and blue

Deep in the timber

Here you are free

Go tend to your gardens and fields

And young apple trees

Soar like the eagle

To the mountains beyond

Rise like the morning fog over the pond

Past the woods, the farm, the stone walls and deer

Feeling your warmth

On the coldest day of the year

Soon the rivers will flow

And spring will embrace

The seeds you left to sow

To the warmth of the days

To the nurturing rain

The harvest will turn

And the wind will call your name

Soar like the eagle

To the mountains beyond

Rise like the morning fog over the pond

Past the woods, the farm, the stone walls and deer

Feeling your warmth

Holding your light here

On the coldest day of the year

Music & lyrics by Ruthann Baler

Love and appreciation to Ron Schulman for inspiration and lyrical insight

Ruthann Baler: vocals, guitar, harmonica

Sam Baler, guitar

Marco Giovino – drums

Dave Roberts, bass, instrumental arrangement

Luke violin

Engineered at Electric Treehouse

Engineered/produced/mixed at Frequency Recording

© Copyright 2025 Ruthann Baler.

All rights reserved.