Etwas Gedanken
ACES & EIGHTS, SADDLES AND SPURS
The Wild West has had scores of books
Written and dozens of movies seen
As per folklore, many famous outlaws
And gunslingers there have been
Outlaws like Billy the Kid and Butch
Cassidy attracted lawmen's attention
The names of Wild Bill Hickok and
Jesse James deserve a mention
The Earp clan had a reputation
And several movies to their name
Louis L'amour and several others
Wrote novels and shot to fame
Rock bands too acknowledged
The brigands and the musketeers
Composing songs dedicated to
The wilderness of desolate frontiers
The gunslinger was soon immortalized
In print, celluloid and comics
For varying reasons such as chronicles,
Entertainment and of course, economics
Movie actors desiring box office hits,
Portrayed gunfighters and made hay
Clint Eastwood, Tom Selleck, Val Kilmer
And many more joined in the fray
So, let us then take a closer look
Behind the lone rider's veneer
Mounted on his steed,
Riding beyond the West American frontier
If you have time to browse through
Western short stories or a book
You'll know that a rough shirt, a poncho
And stubble are always part of his look
Hands ready at all times to quickly spring
For the pistols in their place
A low slung, dusty hat covers much of
His creased, weathered face
Their dark boots with spurs, crunching
The pebbles into the hot sand
Cross their paths and you may well be
Holding the dead man's hand
Whether lawmen or bandits,
They mostly keep riding from town to town
Pursued by or pursuing the law,
Somehow they can't seem to settle down
They are reputed to have pride and
Their own brand of stringent code
Taking law into their own hands and
Dispensing justice on the road
Gunslingers were supposedly involved
In one after another bloody scrimmage
This notion contributed to their long lasting,
Ruthless, murderous image
More often than not, the victorious
pistoleer spiced up his tale
Garnishing his exploits about how
He lived to see his adversary fail
In reality, the line between outlaws
And lawmen was quite often blurry
Sheriffs were not particularly known
To uphold the law in a hurry
A lot of such lawmen had more
Lucrative businesses on the side
Unflinchingly bending rules to save
Their interests or their very own hide
How many of us have played cowboys
And robber when we were young boys
Riding on make believe horses and shooting
“bang bang” with cocked fingers and toys
And that's the point I am trying to make
As now it is the time to sum it all
Is that I enjoyed the idealized
Gunslingers, laconically walking tall
Scoundrels biting dust on the ground,
Our quick hero with the smoking gun
At the end of encounters such as these,
there could be only one.
[As a child, I used to be enthralled by short stories of Louis L'amour and western movies (although I have yet to see all of Clint Eastwood's movies). And of course, some of my favourite bands have penned a great many tributes to life on the road. Hence, this composition of mine. Its based more on the image gunmen had (not necessarily true in real life in those times). But what is important, that all those spaghetti movies, countless stories and dozens of rock songs helped create something unique; the idea of a lone gunman in harsh elements, resorting to violence but still likable, vicious but somehow heroic.]
Written and dozens of movies seen
As per folklore, many famous outlaws
And gunslingers there have been
Outlaws like Billy the Kid and Butch
Cassidy attracted lawmen's attention
The names of Wild Bill Hickok and
Jesse James deserve a mention
The Earp clan had a reputation
And several movies to their name
Louis L'amour and several others
Wrote novels and shot to fame
Rock bands too acknowledged
The brigands and the musketeers
Composing songs dedicated to
The wilderness of desolate frontiers
The gunslinger was soon immortalized
In print, celluloid and comics
For varying reasons such as chronicles,
Entertainment and of course, economics
Movie actors desiring box office hits,
Portrayed gunfighters and made hay
Clint Eastwood, Tom Selleck, Val Kilmer
And many more joined in the fray
So, let us then take a closer look
Behind the lone rider's veneer
Mounted on his steed,
Riding beyond the West American frontier
If you have time to browse through
Western short stories or a book
You'll know that a rough shirt, a poncho
And stubble are always part of his look
Hands ready at all times to quickly spring
For the pistols in their place
A low slung, dusty hat covers much of
His creased, weathered face
Their dark boots with spurs, crunching
The pebbles into the hot sand
Cross their paths and you may well be
Holding the dead man's hand
Whether lawmen or bandits,
They mostly keep riding from town to town
Pursued by or pursuing the law,
Somehow they can't seem to settle down
They are reputed to have pride and
Their own brand of stringent code
Taking law into their own hands and
Dispensing justice on the road
Gunslingers were supposedly involved
In one after another bloody scrimmage
This notion contributed to their long lasting,
Ruthless, murderous image
More often than not, the victorious
pistoleer spiced up his tale
Garnishing his exploits about how
He lived to see his adversary fail
In reality, the line between outlaws
And lawmen was quite often blurry
Sheriffs were not particularly known
To uphold the law in a hurry
A lot of such lawmen had more
Lucrative businesses on the side
Unflinchingly bending rules to save
Their interests or their very own hide
How many of us have played cowboys
And robber when we were young boys
Riding on make believe horses and shooting
“bang bang” with cocked fingers and toys
And that's the point I am trying to make
As now it is the time to sum it all
Is that I enjoyed the idealized
Gunslingers, laconically walking tall
Scoundrels biting dust on the ground,
Our quick hero with the smoking gun
At the end of encounters such as these,
there could be only one.
[As a child, I used to be enthralled by short stories of Louis L'amour and western movies (although I have yet to see all of Clint Eastwood's movies). And of course, some of my favourite bands have penned a great many tributes to life on the road. Hence, this composition of mine. Its based more on the image gunmen had (not necessarily true in real life in those times). But what is important, that all those spaghetti movies, countless stories and dozens of rock songs helped create something unique; the idea of a lone gunman in harsh elements, resorting to violence but still likable, vicious but somehow heroic.]
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ACES & EIGHTS, SADDLES AND SPURS
ACES & EIGHTS, SADDLES AND SPURS
