Soooooo, in his place this weekend, I'll do a redux of one that got a very nice response some time back. I don't mind relegating the Great and Powerful Marty Robbins to this holiday weekend, because I've already dedicated two separate editions to him. But at the very least, I will try to change some of the questions, especially those that were answered quickly before.
Ah, Marty. You do it so well. I took "Gunfighter Ballads" on my bike ride today, as I've done so many times before. I did notice, however, that I seem to have changed my pattern a bit with this album. There are three songs in particular that I have tended, in the past, to listen to first (perhaps even a couple of times) before listening to the others. Today (and, TBT, the last time I took it along) I listened to one of the others twice. It really has grown on me, and it brings tears to my eyes. And it's in this list (naturally). So herewith are some great Marty Robbins "Gunfighter Ballads":
1) Who came riding from the south side, slowly looking all around?
2) The nights are cool and I'm a fool. What are the stars? [Heroditus Huxley: Each star's a pool of water, cool, clear water]
3) "Twenty one men I have put bullets through." Who will make twenty two?
4) I head for home when day is done with my pocket money jingling in my jeans. To where?
5) They'll bury Flo tomorrow. What are they doing tonight?
6) His legs are all spavined, he's got pigeon toes, little pig eyes and a big Roman nose. He's got little pin ears that touched at the tip, he's
7) [Slightly cheating on this one, the lyrics in this question did not appear in the original album or single edition of this song, they were omitted by the publishing company, Pox Be Upon Them, and only later restored in a full-length version]
Ahem, where was I? Oh yeah, I remember now.
7) I was shocked by the foul, evil deed I had done, and had only one chance. What was that chance, and what did I do with it? [Heroditus Huxley: That one chance was too run, so I stole a (fortunately pre-saddled) horse and skedaddled off to the badlands of New Mexico]
8) I'm as sad as the willow that weeps where?
9) This kind of sinful living leads only to a fall. I learned that much and more the night I heard what?
10) A woman's love is wasted when she loves what?
11) Where will my homesick heart trouble me no more?
12) [Just for the record, this is the song I mentioned that I've been listening to more when listening to this album. Gads, it brings tears to my eyes each time I hear it, it's such a beautiful ballad]
Ahem [dries eyes], where was I? Oh yeah.
12) A red blanket brought him to his end in two different ways: as the cause of his death (through his own selfless action in saving his young friend) and as his funeral shroud. Run in your ponies closer and I'll tell to you my tale of whom?
And I will post the lyrics of this lovely ballad soon. If you've never heard it, you owe it to yourself.
5 comments:
2. ...a pool of water...cool, clear water
7. ...and that was to run. ("El Paso" is one of my all time favorite ballads)
Quite so, HH. A lot of folks haven't heard that particular verse of "El Paso" (the "lost verse" as I call it).
#6 is the Strawberry Roan. Incidentally, the right lyric is "he's ewe-necked and old, with a long lower jaw." "Ewe-necked" is a horseman's term for a horse in which the neck looks something like a sheep's: short, with a heavily developed underside. A pretty bad problem for a horse to have.
Thanks WW. I had actually checked a lyrics site and it also had "u-necked". Ewe-necked makes more sense. And sounds even more like Bingley.
Isle of Ewe, Ken.
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