Cowboy Movie Lyrics
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
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
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
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."
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
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."
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
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
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
From allmusic: One of the most autobiographical songs to stem from the diaspora of CSN&Y, David Crosby's "Cowboy Movie" is the actual story of the (temporary) 1970 breakup of that very group. The individual members are all given aliases: Stephen Stills is Eli ("our fastest gunner/kinda mean & young, from the South"). Graham Nash is The Duke ("our dynamiter"), Neil Young is Young Billy, who has an almost psychic ability to predict trouble, and Crosby himself is Fat Albert, who becomes an interested and interesting bystander. The other main character is Raven, who represents Rita Coolidge, who in real life had affairs with Stills first, then Nash. This in itself caused the ill-feelings between Nash and Stills at the time, and caused the temporary fraction in the band. Raven is also referred to as "The Law" — but not in the legal sense, as Crosby explained in Dave Zimmer's Crosby, Stills & Nash, but the "law of averages of nature." All of this combines, as Zimmer relates, to create a "colorful look at human nature," and succeeds admirably.
"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.
"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.
The theme of "Cowboy Movie" and the music remind me of the Grateful Dead. Looking into it further, I discovered that the musicians are:
The theme of "Cowboy Movie" and the music remind me of the Grateful Dead. Looking into it further, I discovered that the musicians are:
Crosby - electric guitar, vocal Jerry Garcia - electric guitar Phil Lesh - bass Mickey Hart - drums Bill Kreutzmann - tambourine
Crosby - electric guitar, vocal Jerry Garcia - electric guitar Phil Lesh - bass Mickey Hart - drums Bill Kreutzmann - tambourine
DUH... This is the Grateful Dead! Now I understand why it stands the test of time...
DUH... This is the Grateful Dead! Now I understand why it stands the test of time so well.
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.