Old Turkey Buzzard

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Really amazing footage and wonderful music by José Feliciano about turkey vultures, from the movie, Mackenna's Gold -- is this a film I must see? You tell me! [5:24]

"There's an old story.
The way the Apaches tell it...
...a man was riding in the desert
and came across a vulture...
...the kind they call turkey buzzards
in Arizona, sittin' on a rock.
"Hey", the man says, "how come you
old turkey buzzard's sittin' here?
"I saw you flying over Hadleyberg,
and I didn't want to meet up with you...
"...so I turned around and come this way".
Old turkey buzzard says:
"That's funny,
I was only passing through that town.
"I was really coming over here
to wait for you"."

Old Turkey Buzzard
Old Turkey Buzzard
Flying, flying high

He's just awaiting
Buzzard's just awaiting
Waiting for something down below to die
Old buzzard knows that he can wait

'Cause every mother's son has got a date
- a date with fate, with fate
He sees men come he sees men go
crawling like ants on the rocks below
The men who scheme, the men who dream and
die for gold on the rocks below

Gold, gold, gold
They just got to have that
Gold, gold, gold
They'll do anything for gold

"A thousand years ago, in the Southwest,
there was an Apache legend.
It told about a hidden canyon, guarded
by the Apache gods and rich with gold.
As long as the Apaches kept the canyon
a secret and never touched the gold...
...they would be strong, powerful.
That was the legend.
When the Spanish Conquistadores came,
they searched for that canyon.
They called it "Canyon Del Oro",
meaning Canyon of Gold.
But they never found it.
Three hundred years later,
the Americans came.
They heard about the legend, but they
called the canyon, "The Lost Adams".
That was because a man named Adams
saw it once, or so he said.
But whether he did or not,
he never saw anythin' again...
...because the Apaches
burned out his eyes.
Everybody knew about that legend
and a lot of people believed it.
Canyon Del Oro. The Lost Adams.
And then for a while there, back in 1874,
they called it, "Mackenna's Gold"."

Old Turkey Buzzard
Old Turkey Buzzard
Flying, flying high

He's just awaiting
Buzzard's just awaiting
Waiting for something down below to die
Old buzzard knows that he can wait
'Cause every mother's son has got a date
- a date with fate, with fate
He sees men come he sees men go
Crawling like ants on the rocks below
A wiff of gold and off they go to die
Like rats on the rocks below

Gold, gold, gold
They'll do anything for gold
Gold, gold, gold
Gotta have Mackenna's gold."

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I don't know about the movie, but hearing Jose sing made we want to watch Chico and the Man.

Hi Devorah! I haven't seen the movie so can't comment if it's a "must see" movie or not but I love the song and the scenery. Also, I think the last line in the song is: "Gold Gold Gold, Gotta have Mackenna's gold!..." (rather than "They'll have MacKenna's gold") so you might want to correct that last line.

Also, I was a little puzzled by why they talk about Apaches and Apache legends in the song when the area they were filming seemed to Navajo territory but I found out that the Navajos were often referred to as "Apaches" in the old days because many tribes up there were of ancestral "Apachean" lineages.

Have a great weekend!--Jeanette

They may have liked the sound of "turkey buzzard," but the bird(s) shown were certainly no turkey vultures/buzzards. The last was a nice view of a California condor!

By Diann MacRae (not verified) on 13 Sep 2008 #permalink