The stories behind South Dakota - Black Hills Ready

• Black Hills Ready: South Dakota's Song for Long-Distance Repair Runs — South Dakota - Black Hills Ready follows a technician carrying equipment support across wide-open ranch country.

Lyrics

Before the ranch gates open, I load the service

case

A monitor, a pump, spare parts, wrapped in foam tape

The Black Hills hold the morning

Where the highway bends west I'd

shake the battery twice

And let the engine do the rest

A clinic light is waiting past the last town

sign

Someone needs a steady hand, and the miles are

mine

South Dakota,

wide beneath the blue

I carry what the small town rooms need carried

through

From Rapid City out where the fence lines

run I'll bring a little more time

When the day is done

South Dakota, hard country

Open -hearted ground The hills keep watch

While we keep people sound

A nurse calls from a county road

Her freezer lost its power I pull in

with a replacement unit

Before the afternoon shower a farmer

holds the door for me his daughter says hello

the old machine comes back to life that

is all they need to know no trumpet marks the

distance No crowd is gathered there

Just a clean green screen and a family breathing

Easier in a chair

South Dakota, wide beneath the blue,

I carry what the small town rooms

need carried through.

From ranch land south to the northern county

line,

I bring the right repair at the

right time.

South Dakota heart country

Open hearted ground The hills keep watch

While we keep people sound

Some roads are gravel, some are white with snow

Some nights the only landmark is the

porch light burning low

But every mile has meaning when a

neighbor needs a star

A toolbox in the backseat, a

promise in the heart

South Dakota, wide beneath the blue

Those Black Hills rise behind the work we

do

Across the long roads, under weather coming fast

We carry care together,

making fragile moments last

South Dakota, hard country, open -hearted ground

The hills keep watch while we keep people sound

When the last small clinic turns its hallway lights down low

I head east beneath the stars

Already ready to go