Mean Mary on fast banjo - Iron Horse

Good Early Afternoon my RP Brothers and Sisters!!!
It is the Noon Hour here on the East Coast and for my first Music Interlude for today, I selected a vibrant song performed by Mean Mary titled - "Iron Horse"... She is called Mean Mary for one big reason... She plays one MEAN BANJO!!!

Mary James (born March 22, 1980) , known by the stage name Mean Mary, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, novelist, producer and YouTube personality. She has been described as having “the unique ability to mix together a variety of musical styles, which can appeal to a wide audience” and her childhood has been described as “a nomadic life that could have been plucked from an adventure novel.”

Mean Mary was born on March 22, 1980, in Geneva, Alabama, youngest of six children. She could read music before she could read words and wrote original songs at age five. After recording her first original tune (and theme song), "Mean Mary from Alabam'", at age six, the song went public and it was then she was given the name Mean Mary by the press.

From 1986 – 1989 she was a regular on the Country Boy Eddie Show on WBRC-TV in Birmingham, Alabama.

On February 14, 2003, she was the passenger in a car accident. Her head broke the windshield and her neck cracked the dashboard leaving her right vocal cord paralyzed with little hope of recovery. She performed as just an instrumentalist for the next year until in 2004 she was informed by a specialist that there was slight movement in the vocal cord with a possibility of full recovery.

Mean Mary tours extensively in the US and has performed in Canada, UK, Ireland, and Europe. Venues and events have included The NAMM Show Alberta Rose Theatre The Triple Door The Trumbull County Antique Tractor Show The Atkinson and Folk Alliance International. In 2018, Mean Mary appeared on The Red Jacket Jamboree, an old-time radio variety show recorded at the historic Calumet Theatre and distributed by PRX.

She has guested on many BBC radio shows including The John Toal Show BBC Radio Ulster where she performed live her original song "Born to Be That Woman." The show was later replayed as highlight of the year.

LYRICS:

"Iron Horse" by Mean Mary

We rode the plains as lovers do
We raced beneath the summer sun
My dusky eyes met his so blue
Our soaring spirits breathed as one

We blazed our love across the sky
Surrendered to its ancient force
Until the day he said goodbye
And climbed aboard the Iron horse

I heard its challenge, loud and shrill
As we chased it up the Great Divide
Though my steed had the stronger will
The iron horse had the longer stride

Its whistle cut me like a blade
I loathed its screaming, smoky cry
How could he leave His Indian maid?
I'll ride like wind and ask him why

Astride my fearless painted dun
I chose my pace and set my course
To catch this demon on the run
My steed against this iron horse

I heard its challenge loud and shrill
As it labored up the Great Divide.
Though my steed had the stronger will
The iron horse had the longer stride

It roared its challenge loud and shrill
As it labored up the Great Divide.
Though I had the stronger will
The iron horse had the longer stride

Through the thunder of its blare
I yelled my fury at the beast
Wasted words lost in the air
As it roared its way forever east

And the iron horse's speed increased ...

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Mary Anne James