El Dorado

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 gates

Behind these doors whiskey pours, and lovin' flows like wine

Miners boast of mother lodes they'll dig or else die trying

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

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

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

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

Comes to find he's last in line to be a millionaire

El Dorado, woo-hoo-hoo

El Dorado, city of gold, city of fools

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

El Dorado, woo-hoo-hoo

El Dorado, city of gold, city of fools

Has the fever got a hold on you?

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