Play on the relationship between iconic figures of the Lone Ranger and Tonto (Kemosabe), his faithful sidekick. Song's protagonist paints himself as the Lone Ranger, here a fallen man who is supposed to be a hero / cultural icon of America, reflecting on how he has done terrible things. It's implied Tonto is gone, likely killed in the scene described in the end of the second verse ('You wasn't there when I orphaned that boy, / (NO!) Your body was, and the white of your rollin' eye / I saw some terrible things on that night').
Without Tonto, the Lone Ranger is confronted again & again with the fact that he's really 'alone', plagued by it, and this line -- 'Nobody checking on all of my deeds, I need a checker for all of my deeds', and the wail that carries throughout the song that he's alone and crying out for his lost friend, likely points to the Lone Ranger as symbolic of America, having either lost any 'sidekick' would could have exerted a moderating force on the country's behaviour, or, more likely, having never really had any such sidekick to begin with...
(The extermination of the indigenous people of the Americas by the settlers: 'a string of genocide campaigns by Europeans and their descendants...the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world'--author David Stannard, 'American Holocaust')
See how the song itself references holocaust, also a trilobite (fossil of extinct marine animal), and the violent imagery throughout. The Lone Ranger fears himself as an unchecked force, but the song casts him as both a present-day figure ('reaching for my phone') and a figure out of history trapped in time reliving memories on an endless loop ('But there's no silver bullet for a memory I, / Field dress every moment but you're telling me that Tonto say / I've lost my way!')
The song ends after the dreamy reflection over the dilemma, before finally it's all cast aside (lost and drained, enough genuflecting in a penitent way) and it's 'Yippee-kayay!' and 'Hi-O Silver away!'--he's riding off into the sunset alone, he can't help himself.
I couldn't of said it better myself. Very intriguing description of the song. ...."likely points to the Lone Ranger as symbolic of America, having either lost any 'sidekick' would could have exerted a moderating force on the country's behaviour, or, more likely, having never really had any such sidekick to begin with..." I agree with your assessment of the song about America...except for losing a sidekick, America has lost it's way completely, in my opinion.
I couldn't of said it better myself. Very intriguing description of the song. ...."likely points to the Lone Ranger as symbolic of America, having either lost any 'sidekick' would could have exerted a moderating force on the country's behaviour, or, more likely, having never really had any such sidekick to begin with..." I agree with your assessment of the song about America...except for losing a sidekick, America has lost it's way completely, in my opinion.
Play on the relationship between iconic figures of the Lone Ranger and Tonto (Kemosabe), his faithful sidekick. Song's protagonist paints himself as the Lone Ranger, here a fallen man who is supposed to be a hero / cultural icon of America, reflecting on how he has done terrible things. It's implied Tonto is gone, likely killed in the scene described in the end of the second verse ('You wasn't there when I orphaned that boy, / (NO!) Your body was, and the white of your rollin' eye / I saw some terrible things on that night').
Without Tonto, the Lone Ranger is confronted again & again with the fact that he's really 'alone', plagued by it, and this line -- 'Nobody checking on all of my deeds, I need a checker for all of my deeds', and the wail that carries throughout the song that he's alone and crying out for his lost friend, likely points to the Lone Ranger as symbolic of America, having either lost any 'sidekick' would could have exerted a moderating force on the country's behaviour, or, more likely, having never really had any such sidekick to begin with...
(The extermination of the indigenous people of the Americas by the settlers: 'a string of genocide campaigns by Europeans and their descendants...the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world'--author David Stannard, 'American Holocaust')
See how the song itself references holocaust, also a trilobite (fossil of extinct marine animal), and the violent imagery throughout. The Lone Ranger fears himself as an unchecked force, but the song casts him as both a present-day figure ('reaching for my phone') and a figure out of history trapped in time reliving memories on an endless loop ('But there's no silver bullet for a memory I, / Field dress every moment but you're telling me that Tonto say / I've lost my way!')
The song ends after the dreamy reflection over the dilemma, before finally it's all cast aside (lost and drained, enough genuflecting in a penitent way) and it's 'Yippee-kayay!' and 'Hi-O Silver away!'--he's riding off into the sunset alone, he can't help himself.
I couldn't of said it better myself. Very intriguing description of the song. ...."likely points to the Lone Ranger as symbolic of America, having either lost any 'sidekick' would could have exerted a moderating force on the country's behaviour, or, more likely, having never really had any such sidekick to begin with..." I agree with your assessment of the song about America...except for losing a sidekick, America has lost it's way completely, in my opinion.
I couldn't of said it better myself. Very intriguing description of the song. ...."likely points to the Lone Ranger as symbolic of America, having either lost any 'sidekick' would could have exerted a moderating force on the country's behaviour, or, more likely, having never really had any such sidekick to begin with..." I agree with your assessment of the song about America...except for losing a sidekick, America has lost it's way completely, in my opinion.