Stormy night under jet black skies
Billy pulls into town.
Thunder rolled and the lightnin' bolts
Come crashin' to the ground
Cold as ice, hard as stone
As he walks into the room,
With another man who was feelin' the same way
All hell's breakin' loose

Bang bang, shoot'em up
Bang bang, blow you away

It's a showdown, in a no-man's land
For the cowboy of the modern day.
Come on, sundown, don't be hangin' 'round,
'Cause the cowboy will blow you away

Al Capone and A Bad Boy Jones
On the wrong side of the law.
Johnny D and his company,
Always first to the draw.
Gangster lean, feelin' so mean,
Tryin' to take more than their share.
'Cause all they saw was ruling it all.
The seed of blood was in the air.

Bang bang, shoot'em up.
Bang bang, blow you away.

It's a showdown, in a no-man's land
For a cowboy of the modern day.
Come on, sundown, don't be hangin' 'round,
'Cause the cowboy will blow you away

Here we are and we've come this far,
But it's only getting worse.
The foreign lands with their terrorist demands,
Only 'cause the good to hurt.

The USA the USSR, with their six guns to their sides.
I see the message written on the wall,
Too much anger deep inside.

Bang bang, shoot'em up
Bang bang, blow you away.

It's a showdown, in a no-man's land
For the cowboy of the modern day.
Come on, sundown, don't be hangin' 'round,
'Cause the cowboy will blow you away

It's a showdown


Lyrics submitted by Van_Hagar

Modern Day Cowboy Lyrics as written by Tom Skeoch Jeff Keith

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Modern Day Cowboy song meanings
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9 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    It's a song comparing old cowboy outlaws to more modern gang warfare to the Cold War. One of my favorite Tesla songs.

    Jack21221on June 25, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    all time favorite tesla song. describes all the types of "cowboy" violence that is still alive today, "Modern Day Cowboy"

    Magicblue22on September 25, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I love each and every Tesla song done. Man I love to jam this one still. But I always thought (The U S A the U S S R., "with their six guns to their sides"). Was (with their systems to the sky). man how am I gonna remember that now after singing it my way for years! LOL

    mriodiceon January 17, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    only 3 comments wow.. BTW. Badass song

    jdebartoon June 19, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Lyric Correction

    Obviously "seed of blood" is actually "SCENT of blood."

    Great classic song. Can't get enough.

    Benjumanjion January 04, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    great song indeed. Poetry set to music. Add a couple stanzas or wait for the cycle and it's back to the cold war again (possibly a timeless piece here) not bad for a metal hair band..

    6NotesOuton September 16, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    okay, yeah...it wanted to be metal in the 80's...let's be clear

    6NotesOuton September 16, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    Cowboy in this song is a metaphor for a "Robin Hood" type figure.

    noneyouron October 31, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion

    Good song, but hurt by the weak lyric, "Al Capone and Bad Boy Jones." This could have easily been improved, for example, (Johnny) Torrio was a colleague of Capone, so it could have been, "Al Capone and Torrio."

    professor_featheron September 15, 2013   Link

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