Backdropp Addresses Cowboy
Starspangled cowboy
sauntering out of the almost-
silly West, on your face
a porcelain grin,
tugging a papier-mache cactus
on wheels behind you with a string,
you are innocent as a bathtub
full of bullets.
Your righteous eyes, your laconic
trigger-fingers
people the streets with villains:
as you move, the air in front of you
blossoms with targets
and you leave behind you a heroic
trail of desolation:
beer bottles
slaughtered by the side
of the road, bird-
skulls bleaching in the sunset.
I ought to be watching
from behind a cliff or a cardboard storefront
when the shooting starts, hands clasped
in admiration,
but I am elsewhere.
Then what about me
what about the I
confronting you on that border
you are always trying to cross?
I am the horizon
you ride towards, the thing you can never lasso
I am also what surrounds you:
my brain
scattered with your
tincans, bones, empty shells,
the litter of your invasions.
I am the space you desecrate
as you pass through.
poem by Margaret Atwood
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Ride Cowboy Ride
Up in the morning at the break of day
You'll hear a big bearded cowboy at the chuck wagon say
"Gather 'round boys, the coffee's hot on the fire
There's a full day of branding, we're heating the iron
I want to smell that scorched hair and burning hide
The horses have grain boys, they're ready to ride
Roll up your bed rolls and jump in your boots
Daylight is a-wastin', boys, it's out of the shoots"
Come on and ride, cowboy, ride
Roll up your riatas and pull your sombreros down tight
We're going to ride, ride, ride where the trail will wind
You'd better drive, drive, drive or we'll leave you behind
Come on and ride, ride, ride, cowboy, ride
It's a beautiful morning and you've had a good rest
You ropers get ready to be at your best
Saddle them ponies and tighten the cinch (Yahoo!)
Pull on your gloves and take your hat off the fence
We'll take the cattle to market, and after they're sold
You can all let your hair down, get lazy or bold
Riding to town to find a lady or two
She'll take you by the arms and shake the dust off your boots
Come on and ride, cowboy, ride
Roll up your riatas and pull your sombreros down tight
We're going to ride, ride, ride where the trail will wind
You'd better drive, drive, drive or we'll leave you behind
Come on and ride, ride, ride, cowboy, ride
Come on and ride, cowboy, ride
Roll up your riatas and pull your sombreros down tight
We're going to ride, ride, ride where the trail will wind
You'd better drive, drive, drive or we'll leave you behind
Come on and ride, ride, ride, cowboy, ride
song performed by by Nickel Creek
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Space Cowboy
Riprock, AG
Come in over
Yo, turn me up
I wanna be heard
See, I'm talking bout the future y'all
And the future looks bright
'specially when we rip in half
Here it comes, millennium
And everybody's talkin' bout Jerusalem
Is this the beginning or beginning of the end?
Well, I've got other thoughts my friend
See I've got my eyes on the skies
The heavenly bodies up high
And if you're in the mood to take a ride
Then strap on a suit and get inside
If you wanna fly, come and take a ride
Take a space ride with the cowboy, baby
If you wanna fly, come and take a ride
Take a space ride with the cowboy, baby
Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yay
Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yo
Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yay
Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yo
We don't need all these prophecies
Telling us what's a sign, what's a sign
Cause paranoia ain't the way to live your life from day to day
So leave your doubts and your fears behind
Don't be afraid at all
Cause up in outer space there's no gravity to fall
Put your mind and your body to the test
Cuz up in outer space is like the wild wild west
If you wanna fly, come and take a ride
Take a space ride with the cowboy, baby
If you wanna fly, come and take a ride
Take a space ride with the cowboy, baby
Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yay
Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yo
Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yay
Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yo
(Left-Eye of TLC)
Boom and never let you try to stop me
Born to fly sky high up to the top see
Nothing to fear, no doubts and no tears
Millennium sound to motivate the future years
And you can either be scared or get prepared
Against all odds I bet you never would've dared
To make these moves and take flight like me
To come through for the world prophecy
Space connect to overthrow your interception
Ready or not make it hot
That ain't no question
Get *N Sync and put your head to the sky
Keep the faith
One love from Left Eye
If you wanna fly, come and take a ride
Take a space ride with the cowboy, baby
If you wanna fly, come and take a ride
Take a space ride with the cowboy, baby
If you wanna fly, come and take a ride
Take a space ride with the cowboy, baby
If you wanna fly, come and take a ride
Take a space ride with the cowboy, baby
If you want to fly
Come and take a ride
Take a space ride with a cowboy
Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yay
Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yo
Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yay
Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yo
song performed by by N Sync
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Like a bird
Everytime I close my eyes
I set myself free
Leaving behind
All that surrounds me
Secrets to explore
Deep in my mind
There is another world
I need to find
I can feel the beauty
Shining everywhere
As I open my eyes
I'm floating on air
Like a bird in the sky
Looking down
Watching all the people
Move around
Crying out for love
Day to day
In the clouds above
I fly away
Like a bird in the sky
Looking down
Watching all the people
Move around
Reaching out to a world
For a better day
Close your eyes
And fly away
I need a place
I can believe
To live out the life
I want to lead
Heroes And Villains
I've been in this town so long that back in the city
I've been taken for lost and gone
And unknown for a long long time
Fell in love years ago
With an innocent girl
From the spanish and indian home
Home of the heroes and villains
Once at night catillian squared the fight
And she was right in the rain of the bullets that eventually brought her down
But she's still dancing in the night
Unafraid of what a dude'll do in a town full of heroes and villains
Heroes and villains
Just see what you've done
Heroes and villains
Just see what you've done
Stand or fall i know there
Shall be peace in the valley
And it's all an affair
Of my life with the heroes and villains
My children were raised
You know they suddenly rise
They started slow long ago
Head to toe healthy weathy and wise
I've been in this town so long
So long to the city
I'm fit with the stuff
To ride in the rough
And sunny down snuff i'm alright
By the heroes and
Heroes and villains
Just see what you've done
Heroes and villains
Just see what you've done
song performed by by Beach Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Shore Leave Ornithology
Slacks, coffee trend
I could have been in the us navy
Flapping grey, coffee smoke
I could have been in another nineteen-fifty
Where the hell were you?
Rough stencil, print music
Cardboard, cardboard, cardboard, cardboard, cardboard coffee
Saxophone mention barbers, n.y.
The cigarette was burning, the flat shoes
Stool
Bongo, coffee, don't mention that black man
The leather-coat was his
Where was she?
Could have been in the us navy
Flow beating air, table-top, shoulder slung
Shore leave, no sailors here
Cardboard, cardboard, cardboard, cardboard
Liquor slacks twisting
The cigarette was burning
The flat shoes, the flat shoes, the flat shoes
Bird, bird, bird, bird
I could have been in another nineteen-fifty
Bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird
Bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird
I could have been in another nineteen-fifty
Bird, bird, bird
song performed by by Xtc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sudden Sureness!
the bullets
in your hands
are the jobs,
houses, and families,
lost to the mouth
that devours....
the dreams burning
like trash on the side
of the road....
the fields empty, turning brown.
cities of ghosts,
empty buildings to streets,
streets that kill with sudden sureness,
leaving no trace,
and no memories!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Heroes & Villains
Ive been in this town so long that back in the city
Ive been taken for lost and gone
And unknown for a long long time
Fell in love years ago
With an innocent girl
From the spanish and indian home
Home of the heroes and villains
Once at night catillian squared the fight
And she was right in the rain of the bullets that eventually brought her down
But shes still dancing in the night
Unafraid of what a dudell do in a town full of heroes and villains
Heroes and villains
Just see what youve done
Heroes and villains
Just see what youve done
Stand or fall I know there
Shall be peace in the valley
And its all an affair
Of my life with the heroes and villains
My children were raised
You know they suddenly rise
They started slow long ago
Head to toe healthy weathy and wise
Ive been in this town so long
So long to the city
Im fit with the stuff
To ride in the rough
And sunny down snuff Im alright
By the heroes and
Heroes and villains
Just see what youve done
Heroes and villains
Just see what youve done
song performed by by Beach Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year
October. Here in this dank, unfamiliar kitchen
I study my father's embarrassed young man's face.
Sheepish grin, he holds in one hand a string
of spiny yellow perch, in the other
a bottle of Carlsbad Beer.
In jeans and denim shirt, he leans
against the front fender of a 1934 Ford.
He would like to pose bluff and hearty for his posterity,
Wear his old hat cocked over his ear.
All his life my father wanted to be bold.
But the eyes give him away, and the hands
that limply offer the string of dead perch
and the bottle of beer. Father, I love you,
yet how can I say thank you, I who can't hold my liquor either,
and don't even know the places to fish?
poem by Raymond Clevie Carver
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Misery Machine
Man in the front got a sinister grin, careen down highway 666
We wanna go, crush the slow, as the pitchfork bends the needles grow
My arms are wheels, my legs are wheels, my blood is pavement
Were gonna ride to the abbey of the ema, to the abbey of the ema
Blood is pavement
The grill in the front is my sinister grin, bugs in my teeth make me sick sick sick
The objects may be larger than they appear in the mirror
My arms are wheels, my legs are wheels, my blood is pavement
Were gonna ride to the abbey of the ema, to the abbey of the ema
Blood is pavement
When you ride youre ridden, when you ride youre ridden
I am fueled by filth and fury
Do what I will, I will hurry there, there
My arms are wheels, my legs are wheels, my blood is pavement
Blood is pavement
song performed by by Marilyn Manson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cowboy Bill
He told a good story and all of us kids listened
bout his life on the border and the way it was then
And we all believed him and when he would finish
Wed ask the old cowboy to tell em again
You could almost hear those prairie winds blowin
His saddle a creakin neath his old faded jeans
You could taste the dry dust from the trail he was ridin
As he sat there and painted those west texas scenes
(chorus)
And the grown-ups would tell us
You boys keep your distance, that old mans just tellin you lies
But to all of us kids cowboy bill was a hero
Just as true as his blue texas skies
He told of a time when he rode with the rangers
Down on the pecos and he saved the day
Outnumbered by plenty, they were almost too cover
With thirty banditos headed their way
He looked back just in time to see a horse stumble
The captain went down and bill pulled up on his rains
And through a flurry of bullets he rescued the captain
And they rode for a sunset, just the story remains
*chorus*
Well I still remember the day that it happened
We waited and we waited but bill never showed
And the follks at the feed store said they hadnt seen him
So we set out for his place down old grist mill road
And we cried when we found him lying there with his memries
The old trunk wide open, things scattered about
He was clutchin a badge that said texas ranger
And an old yeller letter said texas is proud
*chorus*
Just as true as his blue texas skies
song performed by by Garth Brooks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Other Side
Everyone, even those I love
Say that I must move on
It's time to pick the pieces up
What's done is done
What's gone is gone
And I, I know they mean me well
But I'm not buying what they sell
Chorus:
I can see your face
In every shooting star
Can you feel my pain
From where you are?
I really wanna know was it worth the ride?
And will you be waitin' on the other side?
The other side
I've been a soul adrift
Without you here to steady me
And I still listen for your voice
Through the anger and insanity
And I'm desperate for your help
Oh I look for it in myself
Chorus:
I can see your face
In every shooting star
Can you feel my pain
From where you are?
And I really wanna know was it worth the ride?
And will you be waitin' on the other side?
The other side
And I, I'm desperate for your help
Oh I, I find it in myself
Chorus:
I can see your face
In every shooting star
Can you taste my tears
Ah, from where you are?
And I really wanna know was it worth the ride?
And will you be waitin' on the other side?
The other side
The other side
song performed by by Richard Marx
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cowbay Boogie
Well, He swings in a saddle
He's a real gone cat
With his spanish spurs
And his buckaroo hat
His camps in an old log shack
Way back in the sticks.
He loves ta tie 'em down
And burn their hide
And there ain't no rough string
He can't ride
But cuttin' the rug is how he
Gets his kicks.
He does the cowboy boogie
The cowboy way
The cowboy boogie
Come a ti-i youpy, youpy yi i youpy, youpy ya.
So it's adios to his old payoose
And down the road to turn it loose
At an old dance hall
He cuts a gal now straight
Spins her sideways through the herd
He's buckin' like he's being spurred
Twistin' and rockin' like a bronc
Comin' outta the gate.
He does the cowboy boogie
The cowboy way
The cowboy boogie
Come a ti-i youpy, youpy yi i youpy, youpy ya.
--- Instrumental ---
Well, He swings in a saddle
He's a real gone cat
With his spanish spurs
And his buckaroo hat
A tree frog walkin' fool
He ain't no dude
The Fred Astaire of hill and range
Two parts cool and one part strange
He's the best out west at any Elvis tune.
He does the cowboy boogie
The cowboy way
The cowboy boogie
Come a ti-i youpy, youpy yi i youpy, youpy ya.
He does the cowboy boogie
The cowboy way
The cowboy boogie
Come a ti-i youpy, youpy
A yi i youpy, youpy.
Come a ti-i youpy, youpy
A yi i youpy, youpy.
Come a ti-i youpy, youpy
yi i youpy, youpy ya...
song performed by by Randy Travis
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Borderline
In a cloud of dust cross Texas south of San Antone
The lawman and the cowboy pushed their horses on
Racin' toward the Rio running out of time
They had to catch the Outlaws before they crossed the borderline
Well the lawman wanted justice the cowboy revenge
They tracked the Outlaws' horses up to the river's edge
And there across the Rio a badge ain't worth a dime
The law was in their own hands once they crossed the borderline
So they ride to the desert wind down a dusty trail destiny begins
Heroes never turn or look back
They just ride through the sands of time on the borderline
In the safety of the badlands the Outlaws stopped their run
The campfire rings with laughter of evil things they've done
How they'd taken all they wanted and killed the cowboy's wife
And knew no one would follow them cross the borderline
The lawman and the cowboys stepped out of the dark
And it was two against the twenty and every bullet found its mark
And so goes the legend that out there in the night
The two still ride together somewhere beyond the borderline
So they ride to the desert wind...
So they ride to the desert wind...
So they ride to the desert wind...
song performed by by Alabama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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If You Go Away
If you go away
On this summer day
Then you might as well
Take the sun away
All the birds that flew
In the summer sky
And our love was new
And our hearts were high
When the day was young
And the night was long
And the moon stood still
For the night bird song
If you go away, if you go away, if you go away
But if you stay
I'll make you a day
Like no day has ever been
Or will be again
We'll sail on the sun
We'll ride on the rain
We'll talk to the trees
And worship the wind
And if you go
I'll understand
Leave me just enough love
To hold in my hand
If you go away, if you go away, if you go away
If you go away
As I know you will
You must tell the world to stop turning
Till you return to me
If you ever do,
Oh what good is love without loving you?
I can tell you now, as you turn to go
I'll be dying slowly
Till your next hello
If you go away, if you go away, if you go away,
But if you stay
I'll make you a night
Like no night has ever been
Or will be again
I'll sail on you smile
I'll ride on your touch
I'll talk to your eyes
That I love so much
But if you go
I'll understand
Leave me just enough love
To hold in my hand
If you go away, if you go away, if you go away, if you go away
If you go away, as I know you must
There is nothing left in this world to trust
Just an empty room, full of empty space
Like the empty look I see on your face
I'd have been the shadow of your shadow
If you might have kept me by your side
If you go away, if you go away, if you go away.
song performed by by Cyndi Lauper
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Touch
Lay your fingers on these shiny strings
let's see what tomorrow brings.
Wrap your fingers around these sticks
transpose ancient code..to modern licks.
Upgrade your brain's 'input side'
and fire it up, we're going for a ride!
Touch of music
peace through you
in every musical thing you do
we are on the border
of creation's order
can you feel it now?
I believe it will reach..
every human soul
somehow.
poem by Robert Scott Cohn
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Across The Border
Ive been workin so hard, baby,
Tryin to get to you.
Im gonna be there soon because
In the heat of the day many miles away
When the sun is beating down upon the main street
Ill be waiting here at the station,
I gotta move down the line.
Theyll be dancin and singin and doin their thing
And theyll be rockin and rollin until the day is done.
You know I got to make the deadline.
I gotta get that southbound train tonight, ooh.
If I dont get to the border then Ill write.
The mardi gras will be blowing strong
And the people dancing all across the city.
Im leaving here tonight,
I gotta move down the line.
Im gonna catch a ride on the nine-o-five,
Im gonna ride the rail until we reach the morning,
Maybe three or four hundred miles.
I gotta get that southbound train tonight, ooh.
If I dont get to the border then Ill write.
When the wind is blowing softly
Through the streets of a little town and the musics playin
Youre waiting somewhere over the horizon.
I gotta get that southbound train tonight, ooh.
If I dont get to the border then Ill write.
song performed by by Electric Light Orchestra
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cosmic Convoy
Space cowboy:
Breaker, breaker, breaker, this is the space cowboy out here,
And I am four light years away from the planet saturn.
Anybody out there got your ears on?
Why dont you tell me about it?
Jupiter moon:
Hello [...] space cowboy. this is jupiter moon talking at you
From mulitoid space. got some folks over here on your back door.
No one over here at your front door. looks like we got us a
Cosmic convoy.
Space cowboy:
Ah, tell me something now, we got that jupiter probe out there
Still?
Jupiter moon:
Yeah, [...] right behind you, following you.
Space cowboy:
Well tell me something, got any word on mr. spock out there?
Is he looking around for us?
Jupiter moon:
Ah, word I get is you better slow down a little bit. I know
Hes pushing 19 gs right now, and I think thats a little
Above the limit.
Space cowboy:
Yeah, I know, I know, Im rigged up, but I thought I could
Make up a little time here. I lost so much time coming around
The sun.
Jupiter moon:
Yeah I know, scooby doo for me too, sun spots [...]
Ok, space cowboy [...]
Space cowboy:
[...] and Im putting the hammer down. its been fun running
With you. well see you next century.
Jupiter moon:
[...]
song performed by by Utopia
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Wanted Dead Or Alive
Its all the same, only the names will change
Everyday it seems were wasting away
Another place where the faces are so cold
Id drive all night just to get back home
Chorus:
Im a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride
Im wanted dead or alive
Wanted dead or alive
Sometimes I sleep, sometimes its not for days
And the people I meet always go their separate ways
Sometimes you tell the day
By the bottle that you drink
And times when youre all alone all you do is think
Chorus
I walk these streets, a loaded six string on my back
I play for keeps, cause I might not make it back
I been everywhere, still Im standing tall
Ive seen a million faces an Ive rocked them all
Im a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride
Im wanted dead or alive
Im a cowboy, I got the night on my side
Im wanted dead or alive
Wanted dead or alive
song performed by by Bon Jovi
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Ride Cowboy Ride
Ride cowboy ride
Through the backdoor of Heaven
To the other side
I wanna know the danger of the kiss
At midnight
Ride cowboy ride
Yeah I learned my lessons
Here's a story to tell
So I make my confessions
In this sleazy motel
I could be a romantic
I could try my best lines
But I ain't got the money
And we ain't got the time
Ride cowboy ride
Through the backdoor of Heaven
To the other side
I wanna know the danger of a kiss
At midnight
I wanna be a big shot
Ride ride ride
Ride cowboy ride
Through the backdoor of Heaven
To the other side
I wanna know the danger of the kiss
At midnight
song performed by by Bon Jovi from New Jersey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Rhinestone Cowboy
I've been walking these streets so long
singing the same old song
I know every crack in these dirty sidewalks of Broadway
where hustle's the name of the game
and nice guys get washed away like the snow and the rain
there's been a load of compromising
on the road to my horizon
but I'm gonna be where the lights are shining on me
like a rhinestone cowboy
riding out on a horse
in a star spangled rodeo
like a rhinestone cowboy
getting cards and letters from people I don't even know
and offers coming over the phone
well I really don't mind the rain
and a smile can hide all the pain
but you're down when you're riding the train
that's taking the long way
and I dream of the things I'll do
with a subway token and a dollar tucked inside my shoe
there'll be a load of compromising
on the road to my horizon
but I'm gonna be where the lights are shining on me
like a rhinestone cowboy
riding out on a horse in a star spangled rodeo
rhinestone cowboy
getting cards and letters from people I don't even know
and offers coming over the phone
like a rhinestone cowboy
riding out on a horse in a star spangled rodeo
like a rhinestone cowboy
getting cards and letters from people I don't even know
like a rhinestone cowboy
song performed by by Radiohead
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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