Song Lyrics

Manhattan Cowgirl
© Sandy Rapp 2001
For Blanche Wiesen Cook

Born in the Bronx in '41, her daddy was a union man.
She's down at Barns & Noble and
She's signin' books again,
From Hunter on to Hopkins, and John Jay in NYC,
She shines a fiery beacon on love and liberty.
She shines a Different Light on history.

Blanche went by to testify, in Washington, DC,
To keep the sunshine laws alive and the information free.
But when the marchin's over, and a full moon's on the rise,
You can see the distant prairie, steal across her eyes.
You can see the distant prairie in her eye.

Chorus:
And she's a Manhattan Cowgirl
With a sixties kind of style,
Salt and pepper hair, and a
Vest and a bluejean smile.
Manhattan Cowgirl
Has a mighty pen in hand
And her crimson boots are marchin' through the land.

She wrote the book on Eastman, E.R. and Eisenhower.
She conjures up dead generals and channels Eleanor.
There's times she's downright proper,
But when the night is long,
There's still a swig of sagebrush, singin' in her song.
There's still a swig of sagebrush in her song.

Repeat Chorus

Cowgirl got a partner, from out of New Orleans.
She'll anthologize your poetry and analyze your dreams.
Their anniversary's Stonewall, and together they prevail,
For peace and green and freedom, freedom on their trail.
There's peace and green and freedom on their way.

Repeat Chorus

Sandy Rapp

The duration of Manhattan Cowgirl is 3:01 minutes and seconds.