(Tony Kaduck 1989 SOCAN)
I am a flyer, one of those wind-in-the-wires boys
At the country fairs, you may have heard my name
And I have flown where only wind and wild men go
In the skies of France, or west across the plains
When war was done, I couldn't go back to the farm
There were Curtis Fours and Avros for a song
It seemed like single and free was the only way to be
I bought a good old craft and I named her Southern Star
We drew crowds; they called us "Princes of the Clouds"
In the railway towns across the Great Divide
We'd come in low, then stage a dogfight for a show
Then take the brave ones up for fifty cents a ride
Just Bob and me; we didn't need no company
And those farm girls made us welcome when we came
It seemed like single and free was the only way to be
And we swore those glory days would never end
We had it planned; we were gonna fly the Rio Grande
When I met her at a show near Calgary
Becky Ann, she could have had her any man
But I bought a ring; she said she'd marry me
Bob went on; he headed south toward the sun
I couldn't look him in the eye when the time had come
He just said, "Single and free, man, it's the only way to be
Southern Star got parked behind the old man's barn
Six years ago, Bob was flying mail in Mexico
When his plane went down; the wreck was never found
The thirties came, we went two years without the rain
Now I've a factory job, and room and board in town
Becky knew that the glory days were through
I got a letter from New Orleans the other day
And she said, "Single and free is the only way to be
Now, Southern Star, take me back and let me dream
Oh, Southern Star, I got lost along the way.
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Lyrics submitted by Jonathan.