This song is, obviously, filled with Biblical imagery, and most of it comes from the Book of Revelations.
He looked down into her brown eyes,
Said, " Say a prayer for me."
She threw her arms around him,
Whispered, "God will keep us free."
And they could hear the riders comin,
He said, "This is my last fight.
If they take me back to Texas,
They won't take me back alive."
The first stanza is clearly just setting the tone, though line 2, 4, and 5 set the religious overtone. Line 5, saying "could hear the riders", refers not only to the enemy army, but also to the riders in the book of revelations. The four horsemen, bringing all sorts of death and destruction with them.
And there were seven Spanish Angels,
At the alter of the Sun.
The 7 angels and an allusion to the 7 angels in Revelations, who undo the 7 seals of heaven, and release the 7 judgments upon the world. In this context, it clearly foreshadows the tragic end of the two lovers.
The alter of the sun may be a reference to a place, but Sun always refers to God. Altar is most likely church.
They were prayin' for the lovers,
In the valley of the gun.
Valley of the gun most likely refers to Psalm 23, which contains the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Despite the fact that the 7 angels destroy most of the world in Revelations, their true purpose is to save those deemed worthy to get into God's kingdom. In the context of the song, the angels here are most likely priests, or fellow townsmen/women.
And when the battle stopped,
And the smoke cleared.
There was thunder from the throne.
And seven Spanish angels,
Took another angel home.
The throne refers to God, which in Revelations is constantly mentioned that God alone sits atop a throne in heaven. The 7 angels taking the other angel home clearly means the male at the start of the song died, but did so in battle and righteously. He is saved, so to speak, by the angels.
She reached down and picked the gun up,
That lay smokin in his hand.
Said, "Father please forgive me,
I can't make it without my man."
Suicide is, as nearly everyone knows, a sin. Hence the beg for forgiveness. Also, if she were to succeed and forgiven, she would make it into heaven, though it would be unlikely to happen, as in Revelations God is very stern and saves only the most loyal to him.
And she knew the gun was empty,
And she knew she couldn't win.
But her final prayer was answered,
When the rifles fired again.
But, it does not say that she fired. She knew the gun was empty, and that she could not win. So therefore, she most likely did not attempt it. As a result of this metaphorical test of faith, God rewards her by giving her final wish. And as death may seem like a funny reward, remember that those left living suffered in hellfire, whereas those that died right away were saved, allowed to live forever in the Kingdom of Heaven.
On the surface, this song is about two star crossed lovers during, most likely, the Mexican War. It uses far more religious allusions, however, than one would even think. Also, it has a good beat.
"She reached down and picked the gun up,
That lay smokin in his hand.
Said, "Father please forgive me,
I can't make it without my man."
And she knew the gun was empty,
And she knew she couldn't win.
But her final prayer was answered,
When the rifles fired again.
"She reached down and picked the gun up,
That lay smokin in his hand.
Said, "Father please forgive me,
I can't make it without my man."
And she knew the gun was empty,
And she knew she couldn't win.
But her final prayer was answered,
When the rifles fired again.
There is a deep sadness in the self-determination here. I think that she did decide to end her life, the technicalities of what constitutes suicide notwithstanding, and that her expectation when she picked up the gun was that she would be killed by the riders some...
There is a deep sadness in the self-determination here. I think that she did decide to end her life, the technicalities of what constitutes suicide notwithstanding, and that her expectation when she picked up the gun was that she would be killed by the riders some of whom supposedly would not realize that the gun was empty.
Her feelings of hopeless loss (and empathy) on the death of her lover overshadowed her understanding of the sense of the moral wrong in giving up on her own life. The integrity in that sense of self-sacrifice seems to me to be the strongest emotional focus of the story. There is no closing section in the lyrics referring to the seven angels taking her to heaven, although one could argue that her final prayer was to be forgiven and she was (and should have been).
With regards to the reference to a specific number of angels, the earlier posting makes a good case for referencing the seven angels noted in Revelations. I'm not sure, however, what that adds to the contextual meaning of the song, although the references to seven angels does add emotional content, providing both a sense of something that is more specific and weighty as well as something that is more undefined/cryptic.
FWIW, the following are some of the key references in Revelations (American King James version):
Revelations 1:20 - "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which you saw are the seven churches."
Revelations 8:06 - "And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound."
Revelation 21:9 - "And there came to me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife."
Since the references in the bible to seven angels are pretty much limited to the context of Revelations, it seems preferable to consider the references to seven angels in the Willie Nelson / Ray Charles song as being separate from the specific context of Revelations and, pending any further insights on what the seven angels would be referencing, to just be a somewhat separate and very loosely related allegorical reference.
She new their were no bullets in the gun and deliberately pointed it at the Mexican soldiers knowing that they would kill her. Suicide, she lost her lover and didn't want to go on living.
She new their were no bullets in the gun and deliberately pointed it at the Mexican soldiers knowing that they would kill her. Suicide, she lost her lover and didn't want to go on living.
@Impaired_Casing She said father please forgive me, I cannot make it without my man, christian teaching would tell us that to ask God for forgiveness signals belief in God and that is enough to forgive the 'sin'. As it happened she was shot to death anyway.
@Impaired_Casing She said father please forgive me, I cannot make it without my man, christian teaching would tell us that to ask God for forgiveness signals belief in God and that is enough to forgive the 'sin'. As it happened she was shot to death anyway.
This song is, obviously, filled with Biblical imagery, and most of it comes from the Book of Revelations.
He looked down into her brown eyes, Said, " Say a prayer for me." She threw her arms around him, Whispered, "God will keep us free." And they could hear the riders comin, He said, "This is my last fight. If they take me back to Texas, They won't take me back alive."
The first stanza is clearly just setting the tone, though line 2, 4, and 5 set the religious overtone. Line 5, saying "could hear the riders", refers not only to the enemy army, but also to the riders in the book of revelations. The four horsemen, bringing all sorts of death and destruction with them.
And there were seven Spanish Angels, At the alter of the Sun.
The 7 angels and an allusion to the 7 angels in Revelations, who undo the 7 seals of heaven, and release the 7 judgments upon the world. In this context, it clearly foreshadows the tragic end of the two lovers.
The alter of the sun may be a reference to a place, but Sun always refers to God. Altar is most likely church.
They were prayin' for the lovers, In the valley of the gun.
Valley of the gun most likely refers to Psalm 23, which contains the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Despite the fact that the 7 angels destroy most of the world in Revelations, their true purpose is to save those deemed worthy to get into God's kingdom. In the context of the song, the angels here are most likely priests, or fellow townsmen/women.
And when the battle stopped, And the smoke cleared. There was thunder from the throne. And seven Spanish angels, Took another angel home.
The throne refers to God, which in Revelations is constantly mentioned that God alone sits atop a throne in heaven. The 7 angels taking the other angel home clearly means the male at the start of the song died, but did so in battle and righteously. He is saved, so to speak, by the angels.
She reached down and picked the gun up, That lay smokin in his hand. Said, "Father please forgive me, I can't make it without my man."
Suicide is, as nearly everyone knows, a sin. Hence the beg for forgiveness. Also, if she were to succeed and forgiven, she would make it into heaven, though it would be unlikely to happen, as in Revelations God is very stern and saves only the most loyal to him.
And she knew the gun was empty, And she knew she couldn't win. But her final prayer was answered, When the rifles fired again.
But, it does not say that she fired. She knew the gun was empty, and that she could not win. So therefore, she most likely did not attempt it. As a result of this metaphorical test of faith, God rewards her by giving her final wish. And as death may seem like a funny reward, remember that those left living suffered in hellfire, whereas those that died right away were saved, allowed to live forever in the Kingdom of Heaven.
On the surface, this song is about two star crossed lovers during, most likely, the Mexican War. It uses far more religious allusions, however, than one would even think. Also, it has a good beat.
"She reached down and picked the gun up, That lay smokin in his hand. Said, "Father please forgive me, I can't make it without my man." And she knew the gun was empty, And she knew she couldn't win. But her final prayer was answered, When the rifles fired again.
"She reached down and picked the gun up, That lay smokin in his hand. Said, "Father please forgive me, I can't make it without my man." And she knew the gun was empty, And she knew she couldn't win. But her final prayer was answered, When the rifles fired again.
There is a deep sadness in the self-determination here. I think that she did decide to end her life, the technicalities of what constitutes suicide notwithstanding, and that her expectation when she picked up the gun was that she would be killed by the riders some...
There is a deep sadness in the self-determination here. I think that she did decide to end her life, the technicalities of what constitutes suicide notwithstanding, and that her expectation when she picked up the gun was that she would be killed by the riders some of whom supposedly would not realize that the gun was empty.
Her feelings of hopeless loss (and empathy) on the death of her lover overshadowed her understanding of the sense of the moral wrong in giving up on her own life. The integrity in that sense of self-sacrifice seems to me to be the strongest emotional focus of the story. There is no closing section in the lyrics referring to the seven angels taking her to heaven, although one could argue that her final prayer was to be forgiven and she was (and should have been).
With regards to the reference to a specific number of angels, the earlier posting makes a good case for referencing the seven angels noted in Revelations. I'm not sure, however, what that adds to the contextual meaning of the song, although the references to seven angels does add emotional content, providing both a sense of something that is more specific and weighty as well as something that is more undefined/cryptic.
FWIW, the following are some of the key references in Revelations (American King James version):
Revelations 1:20 - "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which you saw are the seven churches."
Revelations 8:06 - "And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound."
Revelation 21:9 - "And there came to me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife."
Since the references in the bible to seven angels are pretty much limited to the context of Revelations, it seems preferable to consider the references to seven angels in the Willie Nelson / Ray Charles song as being separate from the specific context of Revelations and, pending any further insights on what the seven angels would be referencing, to just be a somewhat separate and very loosely related allegorical reference.
She new their were no bullets in the gun and deliberately pointed it at the Mexican soldiers knowing that they would kill her. Suicide, she lost her lover and didn't want to go on living.
She new their were no bullets in the gun and deliberately pointed it at the Mexican soldiers knowing that they would kill her. Suicide, she lost her lover and didn't want to go on living.
@Impaired_Casing She said father please forgive me, I cannot make it without my man, christian teaching would tell us that to ask God for forgiveness signals belief in God and that is enough to forgive the 'sin'. As it happened she was shot to death anyway.
@Impaired_Casing She said father please forgive me, I cannot make it without my man, christian teaching would tell us that to ask God for forgiveness signals belief in God and that is enough to forgive the 'sin'. As it happened she was shot to death anyway.