The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Me and my good partners
we were riding back to our camp
we were feeling very fine
and the air was clear and slightly damp
and we were riding back to have ourselves a party
to celebrate the robbing of the train
We were talking kind of low and lazy
about not having to go out soon again
you know we hadn't been back home two hours
we heard a hawk cry out in the night
and you know that's a signal from young Billy, who's our sentry
He's saying something here ain't exactly right
so we quick grabbed some of our hardware
stumbled out of our home
in two minutes flat we had found her
an Indian girl all alone
and Eli said, "Let's take her back to the cabin"
I said, "You don't know she might be the law, yeah"
He said, smiling kind of nasty
"It ain't too damn likely she'll beat me to the draw."
As we were walking back through the darkness
I heard the Duke, he's our dynamiter, say
he said, "What's your name, sweet little Indian girl?"
She said, "Raven." and she looked away
Right then I didn't trust her, no and I said so, oh no
Now, Eli, he's our fastest gunner
He's kind of mean and young from the South
he said, "Fat Albert, you're getting kind of old and weird now."
"You'd better get your twelve gauge shot gun right out."
Now Eli and the Duke they got down to it
they each wanted the Indian girl for their own
but when they finally got around to asking her
you know she said she'd come to take young Billy home
Eli said he'd kill young Billy
he'd kill the Duke, and probably me too, yeah
The Indian girl said, "Go ahead now do it"
I said "Stop it", and she bit my thumb nearly clean through
and when they finally started to break down the door
I smeared my face up with blood from my thumb
I laid down on the floor and played real good possum
You know I'm crazy but I ain't real dumb
now I'm dying here in Albuquerque
I must be the sorriest sight you ever saw
you know the reason I'm the only man here to tell it
you know that Indian girl, she wasn't an Indian she was the law
we were riding back to our camp
we were feeling very fine
and the air was clear and slightly damp
and we were riding back to have ourselves a party
to celebrate the robbing of the train
We were talking kind of low and lazy
about not having to go out soon again
you know we hadn't been back home two hours
we heard a hawk cry out in the night
and you know that's a signal from young Billy, who's our sentry
He's saying something here ain't exactly right
so we quick grabbed some of our hardware
stumbled out of our home
in two minutes flat we had found her
an Indian girl all alone
and Eli said, "Let's take her back to the cabin"
I said, "You don't know she might be the law, yeah"
He said, smiling kind of nasty
"It ain't too damn likely she'll beat me to the draw."
As we were walking back through the darkness
I heard the Duke, he's our dynamiter, say
he said, "What's your name, sweet little Indian girl?"
She said, "Raven." and she looked away
Right then I didn't trust her, no and I said so, oh no
Now, Eli, he's our fastest gunner
He's kind of mean and young from the South
he said, "Fat Albert, you're getting kind of old and weird now."
"You'd better get your twelve gauge shot gun right out."
Now Eli and the Duke they got down to it
they each wanted the Indian girl for their own
but when they finally got around to asking her
you know she said she'd come to take young Billy home
Eli said he'd kill young Billy
he'd kill the Duke, and probably me too, yeah
The Indian girl said, "Go ahead now do it"
I said "Stop it", and she bit my thumb nearly clean through
and when they finally started to break down the door
I smeared my face up with blood from my thumb
I laid down on the floor and played real good possum
You know I'm crazy but I ain't real dumb
now I'm dying here in Albuquerque
I must be the sorriest sight you ever saw
you know the reason I'm the only man here to tell it
you know that Indian girl, she wasn't an Indian she was the law
Lyrics submitted by hari66
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"If I Could Only Remember My Name" is an album that we listened to and enjoyed back in 1971. Unlike many of the albums that I listened to back then, I still find it very intriguing.<br /> <br /> The theme of "Cowboy Movie" and the music remind me of the Grateful Dead. Looking into it further, I discovered that the musicians are:<br /> <br /> Crosby - electric guitar, vocal<br /> Jerry Garcia - electric guitar<br /> Phil Lesh - bass<br /> Mickey Hart - drums<br /> Bill Kreutzmann - tambourine<br /> <br /> DUH... This is the Grateful Dead!<br /> Now I understand why it stands the test of time so well.<br />
@MANT Fantastic explication. It's about 40 years I try to understand the meaning of this beatiful song. (Y)
this song destroys me every time i hear it, but in a totally awesome way.
To MANT: if you came up with this theory mostly on your own you are a certified genius - if you found the revelation from some other source and relayed it all here, you are quite admirable - this song is remarkable in many ways: it is like a play set up in a grade B Western film, done cheapie, and is quite enjoyable in the characterizations - with the connotations of the CSNY references, Crosby is dead on - it's kind of like a folktale
Although I am sure the reality is different, I am amazed at how unrehearsed this song feels. It's like being at a campfire and someone is telling a story, and in the flickering of flames you are transported to another world. Does he really die in Albuquerque (had to Google spelling, lol)? If this song really has the intentional characterizations of Stills, Nash and Young as noted above, it is beyond colossal in its brilliance.
I agree with the "allmusic" interpretation given in MANT's comment, which mostly seemed obvious, and that makes the song interesting to hear the first few times.(I didn't know that the "Indian girl" represented Rita Coolidge, but the rest was easy to figure out.) The instrumental support from the Dead band, fairly spare, sounds good, too. But it's a long song with a repetitive humdrum melody and while Crosby's vocal starts out well enough, by the last couple of verses it's raspy and hard to listen to. So I consider this track the weakest cut on the album.
I can't disagree more with greendreamer. Listening to this song for 50+ years it never ceases to thrill me. The raspy voice at the end expresses the emotions of all that came before. Garcia's guitar playing matches the intensity as well. May they both rest in peace.