Total Pageviews

2010-11-27

So the CIA decided they wanted Roland dead

Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner    ------Warren Zevon

Written By Warren Zevon & David Lindell c. 1976 Zevon Music/BMI

Roland was a warrior from the Land of the Midnight Sun
With a 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

Through sixty-six and seven 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...

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
Norway's bravest son
Time, time, time
For another peaceful war
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

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...
The eternal Thompson gunner
still wandering 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

From Wikipedia:
"Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" is a song composed by Warren Zevon and David Lindell[1] and performed by Zevon. It was first released on his 1978 album Excitable Boy. It is the last song he ever performed in front of an audience, on the Late Show with David Letterman, before his death in 2003.[2]

Contents

About the song

Zevon met co-writer Lindell in Spain, where the latter was running a bar after a stint working as a mercenary in Africa.[3] Typically interested in the darker side of life, Zevon decided to collaborate with Lindell on a song about a mercenary.

Roland is a Norwegian who becomes embroiled in the Nigerian Civil WarCongo Crisis of the late 1960s. He earns a reputation as the greatest Thompson gunner, a reputation that attracts the attention of the CIA. Roland is betrayed and murdered by a fellow mercenary, Van Owen, who blows off his head. Roland becomes the phantom "headless Thompson gunner" and eventually has his revenge, when he catches Van Owen "in a bar room drinking gin." Afterward, he continues "wandering through the night." and
Film reference
The film The Lost World: Jurassic Park has characters named Nick Van Owen and Roland Tembo, as a tribute to the song.[4]

References

  1. ^ Leigh, Spencer (9 September 2003). "Warren Zevon Singer-songwriter author of 'Werewolves of London'". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/warren-zevon-548722.html. Retrieved 1 April 2009. 
  2. ^ Zevon performs on Letterman. CBS. 2002-10-30.
  3. ^ Marsh, Dave (November 2002). "Warren Zevon on the Loose in Los Angeles". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/warrenzevon/articles/story/5935188/warren_zevon_on_the_loose_in_los_angeles. Retrieved 2009-04-01. 
  4. ^ "Movie Answer Man, Roger Ebert / December 27, 1998". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19981227/ANSWERMAN/812270304. Retrieved 7-05-2008. 

External links

Stub icon This 1970s rock song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_the_Headless_Thompson_Gunner"
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)