This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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
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
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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It's a song comparing old cowboy outlaws to more modern gang warfare to the Cold War. One of my favorite Tesla songs.
all time favorite tesla song. describes all the types of "cowboy" violence that is still alive today, "Modern Day Cowboy"
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
@mriodice I like it... I think I may use it. It makes sense, it could actually fit together implying that they are using more advanced weapons. Weaponry that can reach a country on the other side of the world.
only 3 comments wow.. BTW. Badass song
Obviously "seed of blood" is actually "SCENT of blood."
Great classic song. Can't get enough.
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..
okay, yeah...it wanted to be metal in the 80's...let's be clear
Cowboy in this song is a metaphor for a "Robin Hood" type figure.
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_feather William Jones would have been better since he was an actual gangster