Not just another boring country song: Tunes for twisted cowboys

The Rodeo is in full force, a bull's broken into the parking lot, cowboy hats are everywhere in town and this installment of Songs and the City celebrates the spirit gripping our city. There were actually quite a large number of relevant songs to choose from in my collection, but to keep things interesting I shied away from the typical country and western fare, opting instead for more obscure and slightly askew cowboy ditties.

Turn them up and ride 'em high!

"Cowboy (1970 Live Version)" by Randy Newman

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Could you get any further from the image of the iconic cowboy hero than on this classic downer? Never one to be predictable, Newman uses the portrait of a defeated cowboy to mourn the rampant development that's swallowing up the countryside, where "cold gray buildings," "steel and concrete" replace the "wind that once blew free" and "scatters dust to the sky."

It's an environmental lament of the highest order and one that's sadly still relevant today, more than 40 years since it was first recorded. 

"Hey Cowboy" by Lee Hazlewood with Nina Lizell

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Taken from the 1970 album "Cowboy in Sweden," this classic duet is vintage Hazlewood, all syrupy strings, punchy horns and subversively humorous lyrics that send up the traditional cowboy archetype. You can hear the giddiness in Hazlewood and Lizell's voices, their flirty chemistry rivaling the better known work Hazlewood recorded with muse Nancy Sinatra. "You get that straight little Swedish girl?"

"Cowboy Boots" by Howe Gelb

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"Cowboy boots on cobblestone," deadpans Howe Gelb in this ode to homesickness, referring to the streets of Aarhus, Denmark, the city from where his wife hails and where he spends much of the year. The sentimentality is tempered by a reserved satisfaction that while he misses his hometown of Tucson, he's come to enjoy the pleasures of this foreign land: "No matter how much I miss the Copper State/Poca Cosa and their relleño plate/I’m doing good work here at any rate/I’m a satiated expatriate.”

"Cowboy" by The Sugarcubes

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Hearing a bunch of art-school Icelanders sing about a cowboy is priceless. I've spent some time in that beautiful country and I can tell you there's nary a cowboy to be found on the entire island. Sheepboys, perhaps, but not a bonafide rough and tumble cowboy.

While they do have a really cute breed of small horses, I'm afraid the boots of most rodeo cowboys would scrap the ground when they mount these pony-like steeds. Judging from the inane lyrics, these Icelanders do have a twisted imagination, which for a band boasting a young Bjork as one of its singers, is not too surprising.

"Lonesome Cowboy Bill" by The Velvet Underground

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There's something off about the Lower East Side's kings of über-cool singing a straightforward song about a rodeo cowboy. You'd at least expect the cowboy to be strung out on smack or trawling the dusty streets looking for a cowgirl of the night. But no, here you have Lou Reed and crew practically yodeling their way through this jaunty tale of a studly cowboy.

"Japanese Cowboy" by Ween

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Gene and Dean Ween are often pigeonholed as bratty cosmic goofballs with a voracious appetite for psychedelics, but a closer inspection of their catalog reveals immensely talented and highly versatile musicians who know their way around a song. That said, they're still demented, and "Japanese Cowboy" is proof positive of their skewed approach to pop music.

Surrounded by some of Nashville's best studio musicians (the Jordanaires, Buddy Spicher, Charlie McCoy, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, and Russ Hicks) Ween turn in a straight-up C&W winner. As they say in the song, "Like a Japanese cowboy or a brother on skates... something ain't right." Even so, when Ween brings the twang, this music lover is all ears. 

"Porno Starlet vs. Rodeo Clown" by Califone

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Melding electronics and avant-garde soundscapes with traditional American blues and folk music, Califone explores the desperate existence of an aging prostitute on this compelling track from the band's full-length debut, "Roomsounds." The rodeo clown referenced in the title surely works on the small-town circuit, the glamour of the Reliant lights long since faded.

The bleakness of the music adds to the darkness of the lyrics and Tim Rutili's haggard delivery. "The porno starlet hovers in the eaves/watching her own body fake and writhe/Mascara around her cataract eyes, bruises on her knees/She goes home to a rodeo clown/pissing on his hands for luck/dragging from the balls of a bull/concussion barrel sings."

"Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other" by Willie Nelson

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Originally written and recorded by Ned Sublette in 1982, this cheeky country waltz turns the cowboy mythology on its head. Ever the master interpreter, Willie wisely plays it straight (no pun intended), ensuring it doesn't come across as a cheap gag. The lyrics are a study in clever satire, drawing parallels between cowboy stereotypes and gay culture ("What did you think those saddles and boots was about?") and shattering the exaggerated machismo of the cowboy archetype ("Well, a cowboy may brag about things that he does with his women/But the ones who brag loudest are the ones that are most likely queer.")

"Singing Cowboy" by Love

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The singing cowboy was an ubiquitous character in early Western films, first appearing on the silver screen in the 1930s with Ken Maynard and reaching mass popularity with Gene Autry. However, Love's Arthur Lee seems to have it in for one particular white-hatted Western hero of song in this blistering psychedelic workout from 1969, and he challenges the singing cowboy with an unusually aggressive lyrical attack: "So when you say goodbye/don't you cry/cos look out kid/I'm coming after you."

"Tune for Short Cowboys" by The Outlaws (produced by Joe Meek)

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For all you vertically-challenged cowboys out there, this song's for you!

• Bjork, Lee Hazlewood, Lou Reed, Randy Newman, Willie Nelson
• Califone, Rodeo, Sugarcubes, Velvet Underground, Ween

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