Dframe
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He said "Now nobody move" and he pulled his 44. Stagger Lee
Favorite song lyrics mentioning a firearm.
- Thread starter FlSwampRat
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ApacheCoTodd
member
Can't think of one that comes to mind harder than Steve Earle's; *Devil's Right Hand*.
My very first pistol was a cap and ball Colt
Shoot as fast as lightnin' but it loads a might slow
Loads a might slow and soon I found out
It can get you into trouble but it can't get you out
So then I went and bought myself a Colt 45
Called a peacemaker but I never knew why
Never knew why, I didn't understand
Cause Mama said the pistol is the devil's right hand
Too, you must ALWAYS include Warren Zevon in gun song collections:
Jungle Work
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead...
Todd.
My very first pistol was a cap and ball Colt
Shoot as fast as lightnin' but it loads a might slow
Loads a might slow and soon I found out
It can get you into trouble but it can't get you out
So then I went and bought myself a Colt 45
Called a peacemaker but I never knew why
Never knew why, I didn't understand
Cause Mama said the pistol is the devil's right hand
Too, you must ALWAYS include Warren Zevon in gun song collections:
Jungle Work
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead...
Todd.
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John Joseph
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"...wore his gun outside his pants"
OP
OP
FlSwampRat
Member
Lotta interesting stories about the origin of that song. Stagger Lee, Stack O Lee.... Heard a few different versions.
ApacheCoTodd
member
In a WEIRD coincidence.... I found that stuck in my head just this past weekend. Mighta been due to shooting off that very river. Shooting in Arizona always brings out the Marty Robbins anyhow.
Todd.
WestKentucky
Member
I just heard another one... surprisingly a classic Christmas song. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
A pair of hop-a-long boots and a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney and Ben
Dolls that'll talk and will go for a walk
Is the hope of Janice and Jen
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again
A pair of hop-a-long boots and a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney and Ben
Dolls that'll talk and will go for a walk
Is the hope of Janice and Jen
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again
Armored farmer
Member
"Gimme Three Steps"
Lynard Skynard
Lynard Skynard
milemaker13
Member
Grateful Dead
- El Paso
" I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle. I feel the bullet go deep in my chest."
- El Paso
" I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle. I feel the bullet go deep in my chest."
wally
Member
"Watch my .38"
Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen.
Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen.
Jim Watson
Member
An old gunzine quoted one of Lee's "employees" as saying "It wasn't no .44, just a little Owl Head .32."
Kenny Rogers, 'Planet Texas' "Their shootin' irons shot laser light and their spurs was anodized"
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theotherwaldo
Member
-Odd to think that the two Jim Croce songs mentioned so far are probably based on my parents... .
As for my favorite lyrics - Surly Joe - from the Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
As for my favorite lyrics - Surly Joe - from the Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
Great thread!
Probably John Prine's Paradise, with this verse:
Well, sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River
To the abandoned old prison down by Adrie Hill
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols
But empty pop bottles was all we would kill
Although a close second, and one where the gun plays a more central role in the "plot" of the song, is Lyle Lovett's LA County
One year later I left Houston
With an old friend by my side
Well it did not say much
But it was a beauty
Of a coal black .45
ETA: How could we fail to mention Bo Didley's reference to a "38 built on a 45 frame," which I've always taken to mean a .38 super 1911... though some think it's a reference to a S&W 38/44 Outdoorsman.
Probably John Prine's Paradise, with this verse:
Well, sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River
To the abandoned old prison down by Adrie Hill
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols
But empty pop bottles was all we would kill
Although a close second, and one where the gun plays a more central role in the "plot" of the song, is Lyle Lovett's LA County
One year later I left Houston
With an old friend by my side
Well it did not say much
But it was a beauty
Of a coal black .45
ETA: How could we fail to mention Bo Didley's reference to a "38 built on a 45 frame," which I've always taken to mean a .38 super 1911... though some think it's a reference to a S&W 38/44 Outdoorsman.
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Legionnaire
Contributing Member
huntsman
Member
And I’m tellin you son, well, it ain’t no fun staring straight down a .44
OP
OP
FlSwampRat
Member
Here's a couple that just occurred to me.
He lay face down in the desert sand,
Clutching a six-gun in his hand.
Ringo by Lorne Greene
In one hand I've a Bible
In the other I've got a gun
Outlaw Man by The Eagles
I like Certain Kind of Fool from the same Eagles album but it doesn't actually say gun outright, just talks about how if felt so shiny and smooth in his hand.
He lay face down in the desert sand,
Clutching a six-gun in his hand.
Ringo by Lorne Greene
In one hand I've a Bible
In the other I've got a gun
Outlaw Man by The Eagles
I like Certain Kind of Fool from the same Eagles album but it doesn't actually say gun outright, just talks about how if felt so shiny and smooth in his hand.
AlexanderA
Member
The Merry Ploughboy:
I'll take me short revolver
and my bandolier of lead
and do or die I can but try
to avenge me country's dead
CHORUS
We're off to Dublin in the green In the green,
Where the helmets glisten in the sun
Where bayonets flash and rifles crash
To the echo of a Thompson Gun.
and my bandolier of lead
and do or die I can but try
to avenge me country's dead
CHORUS
We're off to Dublin in the green In the green,
Where the helmets glisten in the sun
Where bayonets flash and rifles crash
To the echo of a Thompson Gun.
Legionnaire
Contributing Member
A couple of folk songs:
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda, Eric Bogle
Christmas in the Trenches, John McCutcheon
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda, Eric Bogle
Christmas in the Trenches, John McCutcheon
Oh, heck, I can't stop thinking of good examples. How about Warren Zevon's Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner?
Roland was a warrior
From the Land of the Midnight Sun
With a Thompson Gun for hire
Fighting to be done
The deal was made in Denmark
On a dark and stormy day
So he set out for Biafra
To join the bloody fray
Through '66 and 7
They fought the Congo War
With their fingers on their triggers
Knee-deep in gore
The days and nights they battled
The Bantu to their Knees
They killed to earn their living
And to help out the Congolese
Roland the Thompson Gunner
Roland the Thompson Gunner
His comrades fought beside him
Van Owen and the rest
But of all the Thompson Gunners
Roland was the best
So the CIA decided
They wanted Roland dead
That son-of-a-bitch Van Owen
Blew off Roland's Head
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
Time Time Time for another week of war
Norway's bravest son…
Roland was a warrior
From the Land of the Midnight Sun
With a Thompson Gun for hire
Fighting to be done
The deal was made in Denmark
On a dark and stormy day
So he set out for Biafra
To join the bloody fray
Through '66 and 7
They fought the Congo War
With their fingers on their triggers
Knee-deep in gore
The days and nights they battled
The Bantu to their Knees
They killed to earn their living
And to help out the Congolese
Roland the Thompson Gunner
Roland the Thompson Gunner
His comrades fought beside him
Van Owen and the rest
But of all the Thompson Gunners
Roland was the best
So the CIA decided
They wanted Roland dead
That son-of-a-bitch Van Owen
Blew off Roland's Head
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
Time Time Time for another week of war
Norway's bravest son…
Or Mark Knopfler's Donkeytown:
There's a purple heart in a silver tin
And a grey .45 in a drawer
Most of the time you can drink with him
But some other time he's just sore
On days when she says she can't think straight
Or she feels like she's getting the jumps
She'll go shoot off her .38
At cans on a Donkey Town dump
There's a purple heart in a silver tin
And a grey .45 in a drawer
Most of the time you can drink with him
But some other time he's just sore
On days when she says she can't think straight
Or she feels like she's getting the jumps
She'll go shoot off her .38
At cans on a Donkey Town dump
OP
OP
FlSwampRat
Member
Well, if you're going there how about Whiskey in the Jar. I think I've got at least half a dozen versions of that song on my iPod.
WestKentucky
Member
Surprised we haven’t branched out more, so from a point of reference to broader interests, I’m throwing out a couple songs from a genre which is this far unrepresented.
Ghetto Cowboy, only song I know of where they give the gun a name and it’s Leatherface.
and of course Ice Ice Baby cause he grabbed his nine and he heard was shells fallin
Ghetto Cowboy, only song I know of where they give the gun a name and it’s Leatherface.
and of course Ice Ice Baby cause he grabbed his nine and he heard was shells fallin
NorthBorder
Member
Mama
I just killed a man
Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger now he's dead.
I just killed a man
Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger now he's dead.
SSN Vet
Member
Lynyrd Skynyrd has a few
Mr. Saturday Night Special
Mr. Saturday Night Special, you got a barrel that's a blue and cold.
Ya aint good for nuttin' cept put a man 6' in a hole.
....
Now handguns are made for killin'
They aint no good for nuttin else
And if you like to drink your whiskey
You might even shoot yourself.
Give Me Three Steps
I was a scared and a fearin' for my life
I was shakin' like a leaf on a tree
Cause he was lean and mean and big and bad
while he was pointin' that gun at me.
.....
And I'm telling you, son
Well, it ain't no fun
Staring straight down a forty-four
Mr. Saturday Night Special
Mr. Saturday Night Special, you got a barrel that's a blue and cold.
Ya aint good for nuttin' cept put a man 6' in a hole.
....
Now handguns are made for killin'
They aint no good for nuttin else
And if you like to drink your whiskey
You might even shoot yourself.
Give Me Three Steps
I was a scared and a fearin' for my life
I was shakin' like a leaf on a tree
Cause he was lean and mean and big and bad
while he was pointin' that gun at me.
.....
And I'm telling you, son
Well, it ain't no fun
Staring straight down a forty-four
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