The Shifting, Whispering Sands, Part I [German translation]

I discovered the Valley of the Shifting, Whispering Sands

While prospecting in a western state

I saw the silent windmills, the crumbling water tanks

The bones of the cattle picked clean by buzzards

Bleached by the desert sun

I stumbled over a crumbling buck board

Nearly covered by the sand

And stopping to rest I heard a tinkling, whispering sound

And suddenly realized that even though the wind was quiet

The sand did not lie still

I seemed to be surrounded be a mystery

So heavy and apperceive I could scarcely breath

For weeks I wandered aimlessly in the valley

Seeking answers to the many questions that raced through my mind

Where was everyone? Why the white bones? The dry wells?

The barren valley where people must have lived and died

I sat down and buried my face in my hands

And resting I learned the secret

Of the Shifting, Whispering Sands

How I managed to escape from the valley I don't know

But now to pay my debt for being saved

I must tell you what I learned out on the desert

So many years ago

When the day is oddly quiet

And the breeze seems not to blow

One would think the sun is resting

But you'll find this is not so

It is whispering softly whispering

As it slowly moves along

And for those who stop and listen

It will sing this mournful song

Of sidewinders and the horn toads

On the thorny chaparral

In the sunny days and moonlight lights

The lonely coyotes yell

How the stars seem they can touch you

As you lay and gaze on high

At the heavens where your hoping

You'll be going when you die

• Artist:Johnny Cash
• Album:Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West