"El Dorado" lyrics - MOLLY TUTTLE

I'm Gold Rush Kate from the Golden State with a nugget around my neck
I keep the red lights burning bright from here to Hell and back
I've dug for silver and for gold from Boulder up to Haines
When I hit Coloma, boys, I made my final claim

Crossed the High Sierras in the spring of '48
And every man with a shovel and pan has stumbled through my gate
Behind these doors whiskey pours and lovin' flows like wine
Miners boast of mother lodes they'll dig or else die trying

[Refrain:]
El Dorado, woo-hoo-hoo

They come from far and wide to quell the fever in their souls
It haunts their brain, they've gone insane for the glimmer of the gold
The devil must have drug 'em here down a one-way path
'Cause when you hit Coloma, boys, you never make it back

There's Redwood Bill, he can drink his fill, so can John the Rover
Bad Luck Dave is in his grave, his gold dust days are over
They fill their pans with blood and sand and call to God upstairs
But in the golden country, boys, the Lord don't hear your prayers

[Refrain:]
El Dorado, woo-hoo-hoo

Cross yourself on Hangman's Hill if you run into Reno Maria
When the sky is dark, she can read the stars from Mars to Cassiopeia
She comes around when the sun comes down with fortunes to be told
For a copper penny, she'll tell you plenty, except where to find the gold

Stay away from Snake Oil Jake, he'll fool you with a fountain pen
One look in his eyes, you'll be hypnotized, he's got that slight of hand
He's sleek and fat like an old tom cat, they say he has nine lives
Snake Oil Jake sure met his fate when they shot him down ten times

Don't stake your claim with the Dogtown Gang or the boys from Rough and Ready
Don't thumb your nose at the Sydney Cove, 'cause the hammer comes down heavy
On every jack who tries to hack his way to fortune fair
And comes to find he's last in line to be a millionaire

[Refrain:]
El Dorado, woo-hoo-hoo
El Dorado, city of gold, city of fools

[Instrumental break]

Heard the news from Siskiyou, the rush is moving on
Leaving old Coloma boys and bound for Oregon
Here in town the tailing piles have all gone to rust
One day you boom, but pretty soon, your booming days are bust

So now I sweep the empty streets and boarded up saloon
Seen 'em fade from golden days to ghost towns left to ruin
Was it worth the blood and dirt to dig our lives away?
But life goes quick, so come get rich in Californ-I-A

[Refrain:]
El Dorado, woo-hoo-hoo
El Dorado, city of gold, city of fools
Has the fever got a hold on you?

[Outro:]
I've seen it, all the rise and fall, and now I take my rest
I'm Gold Rush Kate from the Golden State and I'm the last one left