# Any hidden meaning in the movie title "Paint Your Wagon"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2016, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158 "2016-02-26T02:19:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/21 "2016-02-26T17:10:58Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > You don’t really listen to him sing “Wand’ring Star”; you just feel it through the soles of your feet. Lee Marvin was the inspiration for **Sensurround**. (Oops, wrong forum/thread.) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/22 "2016-02-26T17:18:04Z")
I’ve never seen the movie, though of course I’ve heard of it. Anyway, irrespective of that, I always thought the phrase meant “I’m gonna kick your ass”, similar to “clean your clock”. And now I must watch it to witness the awful singing you all are talking about. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/23 "2016-02-26T17:19:48Z")
^ SPARE YOURSELF! The earworm is not worth it! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/24 "2016-02-26T17:44:57Z")
Harve Presnell makes it sorta worthwhile. And you can always just hit the mute button. Besides, how can you not recommend “Horton Hits the Whorehouse?” ETA: The actor who played Horton still has it. A few years ago he decked a burglar with one punch and a ninja yell, at age 72! ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/25 "2016-02-26T17:57:27Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > AFAIK Clint Eastwood’s only signing role. Not quite. He sang on the TV show Rawhide. He sang a duet with Merle Haggard in the movie _Bronco Billy_. He sang a duet with Ray Charles in the movie _Any Which Way You Can_. He sings the title track of the movie _Gran Torino_ as the credits roll. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/26 "2016-02-26T18:01:18Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > A lesson to live by if there ever was one! > > Clint can handle “Gold Fever” because the range isn’t that great, but on “I Talk to the Trees” it becomes obvious that a singer he ain’t. I thought that was tolerable. When he started talking to chairs, on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/27 "2016-02-26T19:04:59Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > I thought that was tolerable. When he started talking to chairs, on the other hand… [“Oh, hi there, fire hydrant! I’ve just been talking to the trees.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P1qnd65IjM) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/28 "2016-02-26T20:16:00Z")
Sylvester Newell. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/29 "2016-02-26T21:00:05Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I think it’s just a euphemism for sex. > > What? Isn’t everything? Yes, “paint your wagon” means “use condoms.” ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/30 "2016-02-26T21:18:15Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Yes, “paint your wagon” means “use condoms.” Only if you use latex paint. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/31 "2016-02-26T22:06:22Z")
I still have the vinyl record sountrack I bought back when the movie came out. Heck, if Eastwood and Marvin weren’t such good singers, they must have been better than Seberg because her song was dubbed. My two favorite scenes are Ben and Elizabeth’s wedding night, and the scene where Parner, Ben, and Elizabeth thrash out that it’s okay to have a three way marriage. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/32 "2016-02-26T22:26:49Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Sylvester Newell. Just one ‘l’. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/33 "2016-02-26T22:52:32Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > My two favorite scenes are Ben and Elizabeth’s wedding night, and the scene where Pardner, Ben, and Elizabeth thrash out that it’s okay to have a three way marriage. My favorite is the town meeting where they discuss the economics of bringing prostitution to No Name City. Second place is Horton explaining the best things in life to his parents. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/34 "2016-02-26T23:08:34Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > Unfortunately I can’t find the article which covers this topic, which is frustrating, because I saw online within the last few months, but it said that Alan Jay Lerner, who wrote the 'book" for the original play, used “Paint Your Wagon” to mean “head west”, which in the case of the play was to the California gold fields. More specifically, the phrase referred to the practice of settlers painting things like “California or Bust” on the sides of their wagons before starting out. > > The play was originally intended to give a more accurate portrayal of the U.S. West than the common movie “shoot-'em-ups”. Lerner did extensive research, and many of the play’s scenes – for example the man selling his wife to another man and getting a receipt – were based on true stories he had uncovered. [This article](http://www.nycitycenter.org/Home/Blog/March-2015/Alan-Jay-Lerner-PYW)? But it doesn’t mention the phrase “paint your wagon”. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/35 "2016-02-26T23:56:11Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > [This article](http://www.nycitycenter.org/Home/Blog/March-2015/Alan-Jay-Lerner-PYW)? But it doesn’t mention the phrase “paint your wagon”. An interesting link, but not the one I remember. However, according to [page 19 of _Alan Jay Lerner: A Lyricists Letters_](https://books.google.com/books?id=Ix2FBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA19&dq=%22paint+your+wagon%22+%22bust%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiTlbrOz5bLAhXEYiYKHewoDDEQ6AEIQzAF): “Lerner and Loewe were happy to divulge the fact that the new production would recall ‘rip-roaring days of the wild and woolly West’ and announced it was to be called _Paint Your Wagon_. In the show’s announcement in the New York Times, columnist Sam Zolotow explained, ‘If you are mystified by the connection between the title and the hectic Western Era, hearken back to the following explanation: During the gold rush the wagons used by the pioneers carried the inscription of ‘Pike’s Peak or Bust’ least the absent-minded lost sight of the objective.’” ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/36 "2016-02-27T02:17:14Z")
Bitching about Clint Eastwood singing, “I talk to the Trees…and they don’t listen to me…” simply indicates you don’t get the show. It’s the ultimate “GUYS” musical. One of the funniest, most entertaining movies I have ever seen. Do you want a better (or actual) singer singing about loving trees, or do you want Clint Eastwood? Do you want a soulful ballad singer crooning “I was born under a wandering star”, or do you want Lee Marvin in his funniest role after Cat Ballou? Rex Harrison and Richard Harris mumbled and blustered there way through their stupid moves and were lauded. I’ll take Clint and Lee any day. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/37 "2016-02-27T02:33:16Z")
No. Just…no. Harve Presnell is a man’s man, and he shows everybody [how it’s done](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02Mh3DNaXDw). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158/38 "2016-02-27T10:00:00Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Not quite. > > He sang on the TV show Rawhide. > He sang a duet with Merle Haggard in the movie _Bronco Billy_. > He sang a duet with Ray Charles in the movie _Any Which Way You Can_. > He sings the title track of the movie _Gran Torino_ as the credits roll. His album of cowboy songs isn’t as painful as some things Star Trek alumni have put out. I kind of like his versions of [Don’t Fence Me In](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVuPCJ7PphU) and [Tumbling Tumbleweeds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxXffOJwjUk). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hidden-meaning-in-the-movie-title-paint-your-wagon/747158.md?page=1)