Listen: “Cowboy Gothic”
Life’s a Cowboy Gothic about a riderless horse
And it’s narrated by an ambiguous voice
Where the implicit message is there’s always a choice
But you gotta have the courage to make it
The horse trots into town beneath a bloody red moon
He’s saddled and bridled, and he’s well-shod and groomed
And he stops beneath a window right above the saloon
Where there’s a whore who’s been patiently waiting
Yea, life’s a Cowboy Gothic about a riderless horse
And it’s narrated by an ambiguous voice
Where the implicit message is there’s always a choice
But you gotta have the courage to make
The whore comes down the stairs in a white wedding gown
And the whiskey stops flowing and the cards go face down
Then out to the street where the crowd gathers round
As she slowly steps up to that horse
There’s a smile on her face and a tear in her eye
Man, she’s regal and virgin in the bloody moon light
Then she hops on the horse and rides off into the night
You hear a quiver in the narrator’s voice
Well the whore and the horse are never heard from again
But a legend of myth and mystery begins
And as the credits roll the story ends
The narrator has one last thing to say
You turn water to wine and turn wine into blood
Turn wind into dust and turn dust into mud
Change a whore to a bride, watch her rise above the flood
And a groom will be waiting there for her.
Yea, life’s a Cowboy Gothic about a riderless horse
And it’s narrated by an ambiguous voice
Where the implicit message is there’s always a choice
But you gotta have the courage to make it
Yea, you better have some courage
