This one's got nothing to do with love. Sorry folks, that's you speaking, not the song.
In terms of musical style, it starts off with an acoustic, western inspired guitar. You couldn't musically better convey dusty railroads, horses tied up outside bars, and collarless shirts without penning it by Ennio Morricone. So there's your historical setting.
Some of the comments are correct: the regulator refers to an archaic clock where timing is regulated by a pendulum. Not an electronic clock, a pendulum driven clock. The longest mile also refers to the walk to a place of execution - in the historical context set by the song, a gallows.
The narrator is partly blaming himself for his own crimes {"And though I feel like crying / I swear tonight I'll cry no more / How many times have I prayed / that I would get lost along the way").
The narrator moves on to blame the victim of his crimes for his opulence ("Is his wallet leather? Is his wallet fat?") and foolishness ("You should have closed your windows and got another dog / You should have chained up all the doors and switched up all the locks").
Interspersed with this is the narrator's current position, the night before his execution, inviting the listener to join him on his trip to the gallows the next day ("Dream with the feathers of angels stuffed beneath your head / Come with me and walk the longest mile").
So there you have it. Guy in wild west robs someone, gets caught, sentenced to death, and whines about it (gotta say, nicely done musically and artistically though). It's a metal song. Metal songs tend to do death and regret. Metal songs tend not to do the love thing. Pope, Catholic, bear, woods, etc.
First, youre incorrect as far as the genre, this is Southern not western music, the beginnng of the song is clearly bluegrass inspired, bringing properly aware minds images of Tennessee mountains, Carolina woods and swamps, etc. Modern country has skewed the idea of traditional southern music away from its roots and blended it with western iconography, cowboy boots and hats have no place east of the Mississippi. Second youre seemingy basing your entire view on the meaning of this song on the single line "Come with me and walk the longest mile." Taking the rest of the lyrics into...
First, youre incorrect as far as the genre, this is Southern not western music, the beginnng of the song is clearly bluegrass inspired, bringing properly aware minds images of Tennessee mountains, Carolina woods and swamps, etc. Modern country has skewed the idea of traditional southern music away from its roots and blended it with western iconography, cowboy boots and hats have no place east of the Mississippi. Second youre seemingy basing your entire view on the meaning of this song on the single line "Come with me and walk the longest mile." Taking the rest of the lyrics into account you get a totally different picture. TacticalDogma has the right idea, and my original opinion before coming to this site was almost exactly the same.
This one's got nothing to do with love. Sorry folks, that's you speaking, not the song.
In terms of musical style, it starts off with an acoustic, western inspired guitar. You couldn't musically better convey dusty railroads, horses tied up outside bars, and collarless shirts without penning it by Ennio Morricone. So there's your historical setting.
Some of the comments are correct: the regulator refers to an archaic clock where timing is regulated by a pendulum. Not an electronic clock, a pendulum driven clock. The longest mile also refers to the walk to a place of execution - in the historical context set by the song, a gallows.
The narrator is partly blaming himself for his own crimes {"And though I feel like crying / I swear tonight I'll cry no more / How many times have I prayed / that I would get lost along the way").
The narrator moves on to blame the victim of his crimes for his opulence ("Is his wallet leather? Is his wallet fat?") and foolishness ("You should have closed your windows and got another dog / You should have chained up all the doors and switched up all the locks").
Interspersed with this is the narrator's current position, the night before his execution, inviting the listener to join him on his trip to the gallows the next day ("Dream with the feathers of angels stuffed beneath your head / Come with me and walk the longest mile").
So there you have it. Guy in wild west robs someone, gets caught, sentenced to death, and whines about it (gotta say, nicely done musically and artistically though). It's a metal song. Metal songs tend to do death and regret. Metal songs tend not to do the love thing. Pope, Catholic, bear, woods, etc.
First, youre incorrect as far as the genre, this is Southern not western music, the beginnng of the song is clearly bluegrass inspired, bringing properly aware minds images of Tennessee mountains, Carolina woods and swamps, etc. Modern country has skewed the idea of traditional southern music away from its roots and blended it with western iconography, cowboy boots and hats have no place east of the Mississippi. Second youre seemingy basing your entire view on the meaning of this song on the single line "Come with me and walk the longest mile." Taking the rest of the lyrics into...
First, youre incorrect as far as the genre, this is Southern not western music, the beginnng of the song is clearly bluegrass inspired, bringing properly aware minds images of Tennessee mountains, Carolina woods and swamps, etc. Modern country has skewed the idea of traditional southern music away from its roots and blended it with western iconography, cowboy boots and hats have no place east of the Mississippi. Second youre seemingy basing your entire view on the meaning of this song on the single line "Come with me and walk the longest mile." Taking the rest of the lyrics into account you get a totally different picture. TacticalDogma has the right idea, and my original opinion before coming to this site was almost exactly the same.
@Argos74 either setting withstanding, I believe you both missed it wasn't a robbery it was obviously a jealous husband or boyfriend killing a lover.
@Argos74 either setting withstanding, I believe you both missed it wasn't a robbery it was obviously a jealous husband or boyfriend killing a lover.