Ain’t Bob About A (Singin’) Cowboy?
By Pat Fitzgerald

(In which the argument will be presented that Bob Dylan possesses a “cowboy attitude” and may have garnered some song lyrics from dialogue rendered from the western movies.)

He enters his shows to the tune of Rodeo Hoedown
Duded up like a cowboy goin’ to town.
He don’t give no bullshit—no meaningless patter
As he stands “at the keyboard with a gunslinger’s swagger.”¹

He’s swung a lasso in the movies² atop a horse
And caught him a turkey—off camera, of course.
He wrote that movie’s soundtrack and when asked why,
“I had a fondness for Billy,”³ was his reply.

He did the Kid right, composed the perfect atmosphere.
Just head out to Lincoln⁴ where it’s played everywhere,
In all the town’s museums for all to enjoy.
Quite the achievement for a Midwestern boy.

Did those western movies get into his brain
When he was a kid on the Iron Mountain Range?
Did he catch bits of dialogue that stuck with him,
Heard over the Lybba’s⁵ kids’ matinee din?

There was this line in The Law vs. Billy the Kid.⁶
Did Bob want to use it, the same as Billy did?
“We still got better’n twenty miles to go before we get to town.”
Ain’t that like he told us in “Cold Irons Bound”?

“I don’t think about it,” was heard in The Great Divide.⁷
Could poss’bly, in his subconscious, those words did reside
Till he thought about the daughters who put him down?
Had he pictured them dressed in Miss Kitty-style gowns?

In a Hopalong⁸ flick a dance hall girl once said
Something that, maybe, lingered long in Bob’s head.
“She doesn’t know whether to kiss him or kill him.”
Was it a whim a lyric like that’s in “Standin’”?9

I know, it’s been said I watch too many westerns,
An tyin’ those quotes to Bob is simply conjecture.
But look at his music—it’s quite plain to see
He know the source-ballads of western melody.

In Bonnie’s apartment¹⁰ he sang “Wild Mountain Thyme.”
In New York, at the Gaslight,¹¹ “Barbara Allen” he chimed.
Songs from the Isles—“”Wagoner’s Lad”, “Eileen Aaron”
All traveled the wide ocean for our boy to croon.

Those ballads wound their way to the Appalachians
And soon bore the imprint of a brand new nation.
From the mountains of the east, they traveled out west.
Where new tales spun off them, as Bob’s own song suggests.

To the sound of a traditional Irish tune
Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie dies is a saloon.
But first he roams from the White House to the Rockies
Displaying the traits a legend should embody.

Western ditties penned by Bob, they ain’t very many.
Yet when rip-roarers all, there ain’t need for plenty.
He learned his lessons well ‘bout how a tale to tell
An’ once he gets a-goin’, his cowboy spirit swells.

“Romance in Durango”—chili peppers, thund’ring guns,
An outlaw with his querida on the run.
’Tis a Mexican yarn that’s filled with tragedy.
South of the border cowboys can’t flee adversity.

The haunting “Angelina” bears a western tinge
With allusions to card games that no one can win.
There’s bandits and shotguns, the sky changing shades
And the hero must flee after his sad serenade.

There’s folks in a song I feel is Bob’s western best,
Equal to that flick in “Brownsville Girl”, starring Greg Peck.
Lily was a gal about whom films could be written.
The mysterious Jack of Hearts—for him she was smitten.

Jealousy was Big Jim’s fatal flaw. Rosemary
Faced the gallows, the deadly price her good deed carried.
The setting, side plots, action, psychology
Is everything that’s needed for a well-told movie.

Wait—movies!? Let’s return once more to different times
To that boy in Hibbing whose imagination shines
When a bit of movie conversation sparks
Something in his head that leaves an indelible mark.

“He had it comin’,” said Gabby Hayes.¹² His voice intones
The timbre of the killer of Hezikiah Jones.
And in Street Legal, after Bob got sober,
Did he flash on Hoppy’s “ . . .We gotta talk this over.”?¹³

In Texas,¹⁴ ‘bout two drifters close as brothers,
“We’ll meet again someday,” says one pal to another
In a scene not unlike “Tangled”¹⁵ on the roadside,
When he leaves the red-haired lady to roam far and wide.

In The Gunfighter¹⁶—“Bring that bottle over here.”
Is said by Greg Peck. Yeah, yeah, that’s not obscure.
Could be chance that it’s in, “Be Your Baby Tonight.”¹⁷
I ain’t sayin’ my guess is necessarily right.

But look at Gene Autry’s villain—quite often Big Jim.¹⁸
Remember The Last Waltz, that hat with the big brim?
That same wide fedora is worn by Autry’s bad guys,
As is a pencil-thin mustache, like on Bob’s lip did rise.

There’s two simple words from Twilight on the Rio Grande,¹⁹
That I’m bettin’ in Bob’s memory did land.
“Senor, senor,” from “Tales of Yankee Power,”
A song more of Armageddon than of western lore.

And in one Autry movie, a bus roles down the road.²⁰
Is this where Bob’s restless feeling was first bestowed?
Gene kept a-traveling to get to his next gig.
Bob hits the highway in the same type of rig.

Is it possible movies shaped Bob’s attitude
And that’s how he became a western-type dude?
Or perhaps you don’t see what I’m trying to say.
And if you don’t agree, that’s perfectly okay.

But like any good cowboy he’s got a Stetson hat
That he’s worn to Elton’s party²¹ and a boxing match.²²
His western boots are legendary, at least to me.
With black and white flames, they’re quite delightful to see.

But that don’t count for much, because it’s just attire.
To gain the cowboy attitude, one must reach higher.
It’s not just about cattle, a lifestyle’s involved,
And a respect for freedom’s a definite resolve.

Who among us can deny that Bob is freewheelin’?
The life’s choices he’s made would leave others reelin’.
He stays on the road ‘cause settlin’ down ain’t his way.
When you get right down to it, he just wants to play.

I reckon he won’t quit. He’ll keep on singin’ his songs.
Let’s hope that his wanderings remain wide and long,
And he’ll always move forward with no regret
Till, like an ol’ cowboy, he’ll ride into the sunset.

---

1. Robert Hilburn, Los Angeles Times October 17, 2002 review of Bob Dylan at the Wiltern Theatre
2. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
3. Notes in Biograph,pg. 21. The entire quote is: “Why did I do it, I guess I had a fondness for Billy the kid.”
4. Lincoln, New Mexico, the site of Billy the Kid’s courthouse escape
5. Lybba movie theater in Hibbing, Minnesota, which was in operation when Bob was a boy.
6. The Law vs. Billy the Kid, Colombia Studios, 1954
7. Full title: All Along the Great Divide, warner Brothers studios, 1951
8. Wide Open Town, Paramount studios, 1941 ( I am aware that this film was released in the same year Bob Dylan was born, but many western movies were shown time and time again, not only in the movie theaters, but also on television in the 1950s, especially the Hopalong Cassidy series, which were marketed personally by William Boyd, who played Hopalong.)
9. Full title: “Standing In The Doorway,” by Bob Dylan
10. Bonnie Beecher’s apartment, Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 1961
11. Gaslight Café, New York, New York, October, 1962
12. My Pal Trigger, Republic studios, 1946
13. Full line: “Well now, listen, we gotta talk this over.” The Bar 20 Rides Again, Paramount studios, 1936
14. Texas, Colombia studios, 1941
15. Full title: “Tangled Up In Blue,” by Bob Dylan
16. The Gunfighter, Fox studios, 1950
17. Full title: “I’ll Be You Baby Tonight,” by Bob Dylan
18. Rootin’ Tootin’ Rhythm, Republic studios, 1937 (Another movie often showed on television during the 1950s.) Big Jim was also the much-used name of the villain in Gene Autry’s 1950s television series.
19. Twilight On The Rio Grande, Republic studios, 1947 (“Senor, senor” was also heard in Four Faces West, 1948 United Artists studios)
20. Melody Ranch, Republic studios, 1940
21. 10th annual Elton John AIDS foundation InStyle Party, April 1, 2001
22. Felix Trinidad-William Joppy WBA Middleweight Championship bout at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, May 12 2001