Pony Express
by John Riggio
If you lived in the United States west of St. Joseph, Missouri prior to 1860, mail could take several weeks to reach you. It could be delivered by stagecoach, or by steamship to California, but these were slow delivery systems. What's more, there were no paved highways like we have today, so terrain was rough and dangerous. In order to speed up delivery between the eastern United States and California, the Pony Express was formed, which made use of nearly 200 relay stations and cut the average delivery time from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California to ten days. This song is meant to convey that spirit of western adventure embodied by the Pony Express. To that end, John has done a full orchestration with rip-roaring winds, fast-moving strings, horse gallops and whinnies, and whip cracks for that epic western feel!
The lyrics are sung only on the first and third times at measure 7, because the second time is reserved for the spoken lines. If your class finds it difficult to speak the lines in the time allotted, you may omit lines and/or come up with lines of your own. You can also break up the lines for more than one performer in case a line is too long. At bar 23 the students who aren't doing the spoken lines sing "Ooh" for the melody. And of course we can't forget the boisterous solo "Yee haw!" before bars 7 and 38. Make sure to pick students who can really holler!
It should be noted that on the opening day of business for the Pony Express (April 3, 1860), riders were sent out simultaneously from St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California – one rider headed west, the other headed east. This is why the lyrics in bars 15-18 are different the first and third times, differentiating the westbound and eastbound routes.
In performance, traditional western attire is a plus. Some ideas include blue jeans, long sleeve button or snap shirts, cowboy hats, bandanas worn around the neck, cowboy boots, and fringe jackets. Chaps optional! If you want students to look the part of a Pony Express rider, they wore bright red western shirts and blue pants.
Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.