Sometimes a few songs or projects come out with a similar theme that gets you wondering “what’s the deal?”
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you have to be at least slightly familiar with Texas natives Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall and Jack Ingram’s phenomenal project The Marfa Tapes, a collection of 15 songs that were pretty much recorded live in a field with just the three of them and their guitars. It’s truly fantastic.
Kaitlyn Butts, a somewhat under the radar artist out of Texas, recently released a fan favorite track called “Marfa Lights” with some space themed track art to go with it.
And after listening to Paul Cauthen’s Room 41 album about 20 times in a row I decided to go on a deep dive of the rest of his catalogue and what do I find but a song called “Marfa Lights”.
Another Texas native with a song referencing Marfa? I must know more…
A quick Google search let’s you know Marfa is a town of about 1,800 in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in West Texas, about 60 miles North on Route 67 from the Mexican border. It’s a major center for minimalist art and is a small hub for music, food and other arts.
But there’s more to the area.
Possibly a whole lot more…
Since at least 1883, residents of Presidio County have witnessed mystical lights in the remote Mitchell Flat desert Southeast of the town of Marfa. They are said to be from paranormal phenomena, ghosts, aliens or UFO’s of some sort.
In his book “In Defense Of The Marfa Lights,” James Bunnell, a scientist who devoted his retirement to studying the enigma, says
“You might just see mysterious orbs of light suddenly appear above desert foliage. These balls of light may remain stationary as they pulse on and off with intensity varying from dim to almost blinding brilliance.
Then again, these ghostly lights may dart across the desert…or perform splits and mergers. Light colors are usually yellow-orange but other hues, including green, blue and red are also seen.”
The mystery of these lights have made the area a major tourist attraction and an official viewing platform has been established to help you get the best look.
Of course, a bunch of scientist nerds did some “studies” that alleged the lights are just campfires and headlights from Route 67, but it’s pretty obvious they’re just afraid of the unexplainable. These lights have been seen since the 1880s, so it’s pretty unlikely there were headlights around during that time…
And either way, sometimes it’s best for everyone to just leave a mystery a mystery…
You just have to love when songwriters take some piece of local culture and put it on display in a beautiful, artistic way for the world to see.
Time to book a trip to Marfa for some music, art, BBQ and ghost lights…
Now enjoy some great songs.
Kaitlin Butts – “Marfa Lights”
Paul Cauthen – “Marfa Lights”
John Baumann – “One Night In Marfa”
