Gun Songs

Does anyone have any good gun songs that they recommend such as "The Road Goes on Forever" that I saw in another thread?

Got a .38 Special, boys, and it do very well.
I've got a .32-20, and it's a-burnin'...
She's got a .38 Special, but I believe it's most too light.
I've got a .32-20, got to make the cats alright...

".32-20 Blues"
Robert Johnson, 1936

"little Armalite"

"And it's down in the Bogside, that's where I long to be,
Lying in the dark with a Provo company,
A comrade on me left and another on me right
And a clip of ammunition for my little Armalite.

I was stopped by a soldier, said he, You are a swine,
He beat me with his baton and he kicked me in the groin,
I bowed and I scraped, sure me manners were polite
But all the time I'm thinking of me little Armalite.

And it's down in Crossmaglen, sure that's where I long to be,
Lying in the dark with a Provo company,
A comrade on me left and another on me right
And a clip of ammunition for my little Armalite

Sure a brave RUC man came up into our street
Six hundred British soldiers were gathered round his feet
Come out, ye cowardly Fenians, said he, come out and fight.
But he cried, I'm only joking, when he heard the Armalite.

Sure it's down in Kilwilkie, that's where I long to be,
Lying in the dark with a Provo company,
A comrade on me left and another on me right
And a clip of ammunition for my little Armalite.

Sure, the army came to visit me, 'twas in the early hours,
With Saladins and Saracens and Ferret armoured cars
They thought they had me cornered, but I gave them all a fright
With the armour piercing bullets of my little Armalite.

And it's down in the Falls Road, that's where I long to be,
Lying in the dark with a Provo company,
A comrade on me left and another on me right
And a clip of ammunition for my little Armalite.

When Tuzo came to Belfast, he said, The battle's won,
Said General Ford, We're winning sir, we have them on the run.
But corporals and privates on patrol at night,
Said, Send for reinforcements, it's the bloody Armalite.

And it's up in Ballymurphy, that's where I long to be,
Lying in the dark with a Provo company,
A comrade on me left and another on me right
And a clip of ammunition for my little Armalite.

What about Warren Zevon's "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner".

ARTIST: Warren Zevon
TITLE: Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
Lyrics and Chords

Roland was a warrior from the land of the midnight sun
With his 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

/ Am C - F / - C - G / 1st / F C G Am /

Through '66 and 7, they fought the Congo war
With their fingers on their triggers, knee deep in gore
For 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

/ F C G Am / /

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 peaceful war
Norway's bravest son
But time stands still for Roland, 'til he evens up the score
They can still see his headless body stalking through the night
In the muzzle flash of Roland's Thompson gun
In the muzzle flash of Roland's Thompson gun

/ C G F Am / C - G - / AmG CG F Am / C G Am - / /

Roland searched the continent for the man who'd done him in
He found him in Mombassa, in a barroom drinking gin
Roland aimed his Thompson gun, he didn't say a word
But he blew Van Owen's body from there to Johannesburg

Roland the headless Thompson gunner
Roland the headless Thompson gunner
Roland the headless Thompson gunner, talking about the man
Roland the headless Thompson gunner

The eternal Thompson gunner
Still wand'ring through the night
Now it's ten years later, but he still keeps up the fight
In Ireland, in Lebanon, in Palestine and Berkeley
Patty Hearst heard the burst
Of Roland's Thompson gun and bought it

A classic IMO,

Regards,
Rob

"Gun Junky" by Jack Knife and the Sharps. Off the Ace Cafe cd.

"His finger lingers, on the trigger"

Vick

marty robbins - "Big Iron"

To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day
Hardly spoke to folks around him didn't have too much to say
No one dared to ask his business no one dared to make a slip
for the stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

It was early in the morning when he rode into the town
He came riding from the south side slowly lookin' all around
He's an outlaw loose and running came the whisper from each lip
And he's here to do some business with the big iron on his hip
big iron on his hip

In this town there lived an outlaw by the name of Texas Red
Many men had tried to take him and that many men were dead
He was vicious and a killer though a youth of twenty four
And the notches on his pistol numbered one an nineteen more
One and nineteen more

Now the stranger started talking made it plain to folks around
Was an Arizona ranger wouldn't be too long in town
He came here to take an outlaw back alive or maybe dead
And he said it didn't matter he was after Texas Red
After Texas Red

Wasn't long before the story was relayed to Texas Red
But the outlaw didn't worry men that tried before were dead
Twenty men had tried to take him twenty men had made a slip
Twenty one would be the ranger with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

The morning passed so quickly it was time for them to meet
It was twenty past eleven when they walked out in the street
Folks were watching from the windows every-body held their breath
They knew this handsome ranger was about to meet his death
About to meet his death

There was forty feet between them when they stopped to make their play
And the swiftness of the ranger is still talked about today
Texas Red had not cleared leather fore a bullet fairly ripped
And the ranger's aim was deadly with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

It was over in a moment and the folks had gathered round
There before them lay the body of the outlaw on the ground
Oh he might have went on living but he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the ranger with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

Big iron Big iron

When he tried to match the ranger with the big iron on his hip.

that song was written about a 10" Colt SAA clone in .44 special built for Walt Ivie. Marty Robbins was with Ivie when he picked it up for the first time, and was inspired by the "big iron"

Somewhat loosely related...

"Woke Up This Morning" by Alabama 3 (it's the intro to the Soprano's)


You woke up this morning
Got yourself a gun,
Mama always said you'd be
The Chosen One.

She said: You're one in a million
You've got to burn to shine,
But you were born under a bad sign,
With a blue moon in your eyes.

You woke up this morning
All the love has gone,
Your Papa never told you
About right and wrong.

But you're looking good, baby,
I believe you're feeling fine, (shame about it),
Born under a bad sign
With a blue moon in your eyes.

You woke up this morning
The world turned upside down,
Thing's ain't been the same
Since the Blues walked into town.

But you're one in a million
You've got that shotgun shine.
Born under a bad sign,
With a blue moon in your eyes.

When you woke up this morning everything you had was
gone. By half past ten your head was going ding-dong.
Ringing like a bell from your head down to your toes,
like a voice telling you there was something you should
know. Last night you were flying but today you're so low
- ain't it times like these that make you wonder if
you'll ever know the meaning of things as they appear to
the others; wives, mothers, fathers, sisters and
brothers. Don't you wish you didn't function, wish you
didn't think beyond the next paycheck and the next little
drink' Well you do so make up your mind to go on, 'cos
when you woke up this morning everything you had was gone.

When you woke up this morning,
When you woke up this morning,
When you woke up this morning,
Mama said you'd be the Chosen One.

When you woke up this morning,
When you woke up this morning,
When you woke up this morning,
You got yourself a gun.

Cheryl Wheeler "Don't Forget the Guns" - she meant the song as sarcasm, but I think it's great! At one point in time you could download it from the net for free, but I can't find the site anymore. I have an mp3 version of it. A group of us were considering making it the gun rights theme song for MD.


Don't Forget The Guns (a.k.a The Nelson's Ride Along)
Words And Music By
Cheryl Wheeler

Now let's get the kids and pack up the car
Take that vacation we've been waiting for
Drive across this country leave our worries far behind
Singin' four-part harmony to "sweet adeline"

`Cause I got these books and maps from triple "A"
We'll visit friends and sites along the way
So bring the bikes and toys and diapers
Pay the neighbor's son
And call to stop the mail and, honey,
Don't forget the guns

(Chorus)
Now don't forget the guns you know exactly what I mean
Bring the pistols, bring the uzi and the old AR-15
We don't look for trouble but by golly if we're in it
It's nice to know we're free to blow nine hundred rounds a minute

We'll head for Chicago, stop for the night
Hope for good weather hope the kids don't fight
They've never seen mt. Rushmore and they ought to understand
The kind of men who forged our freedom all across this land

We'll hike up a trail and ride down a street
Stand by Old Faithful and watch her blow off steam
When we pack picnic lunches that's not all we'll bring along
`Cause we'll be packing 45's case anything goes wrong

(Repeat Chorus)

Oh riding along we'll follow the sights
Over the mountains under the pines
Up to boot hill where they got what they gave
In the land of the free you've got to be brave

(Repeat Chorus)

2/11/89
(P) May 27, 2003

Penrod And Higgins Music / Amachrist Music
ACF Music Group
International Copyright Reserve

Willie Nelson had a few....

Livin on the road my friend, is gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron
Your breath as hard as kerosene
You weren't your momma's only boy, but her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye
And sank into your dreams
Pancho was a bandit boy, his horse was fast as polished steel
He wore his gun outside his pants
For all the honest world to feel
Pancho met his match you know on the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dyin words, ah but that's the way it goes

All the Federales say, they could've had him any day
They only let him slip away, out of kindness I suppose

Lefty he can't sing the blues all night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down south ended up in Lefty's mouth
The day they laid poor Pancho low, Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go, there ain't nobody knows

All the Federales say, they could've had him any day
They only let him slip away out of kindness I suppose

The boys tell how old Pancho fell, and Lefty's livin in cheap hotels
The desert's quiet, Cleveland's cold
And so the story ends we're told
Pancho needs your prayers it's true, but save a few for Lefty too
He only did what he had to do, and now he's growing old

All the Federales say, they could've had him any day
They only let him go so long, out of kindness I suppose

A few gray Federales say, they could've had him any day
They only let him go so long, out of kindness I suppose

______________________________________________

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."
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."

Chorus
There were seven Spanish Angels,
At the alter of the Sun.
They were prayin' for the lovers,
In the valley of the gun.
When the battle stopped,
And the smoke cleared.
There was thunder from the throne.
And seven Spanish angels,
Took another angel home.

She reached down and picked the gun up,
That lay smokin in his hand.
She 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.
Her final prayer was answered,
When the rifles fired again.

Chorus
__________________________________________

I was a highwayman. Along the coach roads I did ride
With sword and pistol by my side
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade
The bastards hung me in the spring of twenty-five
But I am still alive.

I was a sailor. I was born upon the tide
And with the sea I did abide.
I sailed a schooner round the Horn to Mexico
I went aloft and furled the mainsail in a blow
And when the yards broke off they said that I got killed
But I am living still.

I was a dam builder across the river deep and wide
Where steel and water did collide
A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado
I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below
They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound
But I am still around..I'll always be around..and around and around and
around and around

I fly a starship across the Universe divide
And when I reach the other side
I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will remain
And I'll be back again, and again and again and again and again..

seeker_two,
Those are three of my favorites, I love the deut of Willy and Ray Charles in "7 Spanish Angels"

I've been wandering about Poncho and Lefty. Did Lefty "get the bread" by selling Poncho out to the Federales? Is that "what he had to do"?

Who's responsible for this "little Armalite" song?

Who's responsible for this "little Armalite" song?

Isn't that, The Police...

Bubba shot the Jukebox (Sung by Joe Diffie??)

We were all down at Margie's Bar
Tellin' Stoires if we had one
Somebory fired up the old Jukebox
Th' song it played shore was a sad one
Teardroped rolled down Bubbas nose
From the pain the song was inflicting
All at once he jumped to his feet
Just somebody kicked him
Chorus:
Bubba shot the Jukebox last night...
Said it played a sad song that made him cry...
Went to his truck and got a .45....
Bubba shot the Jukebox last night...

Bubba ain't never been accused
of bein' mentaly stable
So we did not draw an easy breath
Till he laid that Colt on the table
He hung his head till the cops showed up
An' dragged him right outta Margie's
Don't play dumb with us, boy
You know damn well what the charge is

“The Wreck of The Barbie Ferrari”

Saturday night he comes home stinking
Sunday morning she wakes up thinking and thinking and thinking and thinking
Does she need to get the kids dressed to go to church
He’s pulled a shotgun out of the lurch
He heads for the tv room starts to search
His problems swollen like a river and his reality’s shrinking
He finds them huddled by the toy box and splatters ’em all
The ken and the midge and the skipper doll
They look like a family but they’re really not at all

Well he’s sad but he ain’t sorry
It ain’t the end of the world
It’s just the wreck of the barbie ferrari

He wonders if he ever said I do
To that little blonde plastic voodoo
And his mind’s gone fishin’
Well it started just as plain as the nose on your face
Now it’s in a thousand peices all over the place
He thought she was driving but it’s twisted beyond recognition
All the diapers and the tutus and the basketballs
She was givin’ them a lift to the promised mall
But somewhere by the tv that v-12 stalled
As he loaded the chamber her eyes got starry
It ain’t the end of the world
It’s just wreck of the barbie ferrari
When they get home from church won’t they be sorry
He’s cornered ’em all on his urban safari

It ain’t the end of the world...

He’s played with cars and guns since he could crawl
Now he wishes he’d never met that doll with her face gone
There wasnt nothing he ever thought about
He couldn’t drive through or shoot his way out
As he surveys the family room littered with dolls
He can’t find one leg to stand on
He aims the gun at his head now he’s starting to cry
Looking for the courage to let it fly
Can’t live without his family now that something has died
He’s not sure who’s hurt not sure who’s sorry

It ain’t the end of the world...


------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the "Perfectly Good Guitar" cd. Its excellent, worth the $.

Vick

Well, we're all off to Dublin
in the green, in the green,
Where the helmets glisten in the sun;
Where the bayonets flash and the rifles crash
to the echo of a Thompson gun.

from The Merrie Ploughboy
author unknown

Who's responsible for this "little Armalite" song?
While the version I have was performed by "The Swinging Irish Bobs" I would guess that the ultimate resposibility for that particiluar song lies with "Her Majesty The Queen", and the actions of her Goverment all the way back to the time of Oliver Chromwell.

The referance to the RUC refers to the "Royal Ulster Constabulary"

It is a Irish Republician (IRA) song.

While they are not "guns" in the traditional sence of the word heres a couple of tunes that relate to hand held, shoulder fired weapons.

If I had a Rocket Launcher, some SOB would die"

"here comes the helicopter -- second time today
everybody scatters and hopes it goes away
how many kids they've murdered only god can say
if i had a rocket launcher...i'd make somebody pay.

i don't believe in guarded borders and i don't believe in hate
i don't believe in generals or their stinking torture states
and when i talk with the survivors of things too sickening to relate
if i had a rocket launcher...i would retaliate

on the rio lacantun one hundred thousand wait
to fall down from starvation -- or some less humane fate.
cry for guatemala, with a corpse in every gate
if i had a rocket launcher...i would not hesitate

i want to raise every voice -- at least i've got to try.
every time i think about it water rises to my eyes.
situation desperate echoes of the victims cry
if i had a rocket launcher...some sonofabitch would die


"The SAM Song"

Well I have been a Provo now for 15 years or more
with armalites and mortarbombs I thought I knew the score
But now we have a weapon, we've never used before
The Brits are looking worried - and they're going to worry more!

Tiocfaidh Ár Lá, sing Up the ´Ra
SAM Missiles in the sky

I started off with petrol bombs and throwing bricks and stones
With a hundred more lads like me, I never was alone
But soon I learned that bricks and stones won't drive the Brits away
It wasn't very long before - I joined the I.R.A.

Then there came Internments in the year of '71
The Brits thought we were beaten, that we were on the run
On that early August morning they kicked in our back door
but for every man they took away, they missed a hundred more

I spent eight years in the cages, I had time to think and plan
for though they locked away a boy, I walked out a man
and there's only one thing that I learned while in their cell I lay
the Brits will never leave us, until they're blown away!

All through the days of hunger strike I watched my comrades die
while in the streets of Belfast you could hear the women cry
I can't forget the massacre that Friday at Loughgall
I salute my fallen comrades, as I watch their choppers fall

I've been wandering about Poncho and Lefty. Did Lefty "get the bread" by selling Poncho out to the Federales? Is that "what he had to do"?

To quote the Red-Headed Stranger....

"Pancho met his match you know on the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dyin words, ah but that's the way it goes"

Pancho tried his luck, but Lefty was slightly luckier (& got the Federales' reward for Pancho's head, too)... :cool:

Don't forget Lawyers Guns and Money also by Warren Zevon.

Silent Running by Mike and the Mechanics has a good gun reference.

Jeff