Running Shadow
(Michael Martin Murphey and Ryan Murphey)

Wise men spoke the vision
Of the spirit horse's way
Like a savior he has risen
From the ashes of the plains

All the souls of mighty warriors
Are carried in his veins
All the hopes of ancient nations
Are flowing through his mane
And the spirit voices say

Chorus:
Never chase a running shadow
Underneath the midnight sky
Never chase a running shadow
You will ride until you die

From the badlands of Dakota
One lone rider came
To catch the restless spirit
They said could not be tamed

And he laughed at all their legends
He called their stories lies
He called it superstition
Foolish dreams of fading tribes
And the spirit voices cry

Repeat Chorus

Over hills and through dark canyons
He chased the steel dusk gray
But he could not catch the stallion
He could not break his pace
He pursued the racing phantom
To the canyon's edge
But Running Shadow jumped the chasm
Left the outlaw on the ledge
And the spirit voices say

Repeat Chorus

Never chase a running shadow
You will ride until you die

 

NOTE OF INTEREST: Murph once said that this song was written as a 'follow-up' to the story about the horse in his song, Wildfire. It was composed as a result of the many questions that he received as to what happened after Wildfire.


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