Bessie, Did You Make It?

In 1928 Glen and Bessie met their fate
From Twin Falls down the Colorado
In a handmade canoe, what happened to these two
Is up to who you ask but full of sorrow

It took twenty-six full days to find the heart of the maze
Deep in the canyon they were swallowed
He dragged his new wife through his treacherous life
For cheap thrills he took their tomorrows

Did you make it, did you make it, did you make it on your own?
Or did you fake it, fake it, leave someone else’s bones?

They were last seen alive by Emery Kolb
Who lived alone in the canyon
He put ‘em up for the night, warmed ‘em up by the stove
Saying: At least let me save your companion

The years flew by and Kolb passed on
They found some bones in his boathouse
A bullet in the skull from another dawn
Under the piles of his photos

Did you make it, did you make it, did you make it on your own?
Or did you fake it, fake it, leave someone else’s bones? Someone else bones?

This boat looks like a coffin and the water is strong
If you go, if you go, you are gone gone gone
If you go you are gone, gone, gone

Fifty years later the tale turned to legend
A woman claimed to be Bess for a second
By the fire, she said without smiling
I'm Bessie, I killed him, I was simply surviving
I'm Bessie, I killed him, I was simply surviving