# frankie laine's bowie knife lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2009, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frankie-laines-bowie-knife-lyrics/512216 "2009-10-01T07:19:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![flano1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f14d63/32.png) [@flano1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flano1)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frankie-laines-bowie-knife-lyrics/512216/1 "2009-10-01T07:19:50Z")
i’ve listened to this song for years and i can’t decipher the line that sounds like: “…long razor blade steel…”. my google fu has failed me; lyric site searches nada. please help lest i go stark raving mad and be in need of cool water before i miss the 3:10 to yuma and get lost along the navajo trail! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frankie-laines-bowie-knife-lyrics/512216/2 "2009-10-01T15:57:21Z")
Me neither, always wondered. “long blade of red steel” doesn’t make sense either. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frankie-laines-bowie-knife-lyrics/512216/3 "2009-10-01T17:22:30Z")
[Just found a sample of the song on Amazon (listen to song 16).](http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B00000K2MM/ref=pd_krex_listen_dp_img?ie=UTF8&refTagSuffix=dp_img) Sounded to me like: _Bowie Knife, Bowie knife Long glittering_ steel. If my gun don’t take your evil life You can bet my Bowie knife will.\* Helpful? ETA: or “_glitterin’_” ---
**Author:** ![flano1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f14d63/32.png) [@flano1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flano1)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frankie-laines-bowie-knife-lyrics/512216/4 "2009-10-01T17:52:51Z")
thanks. i’m kinda glad i’m not the only one. i even checked out the history of the bowie knife to get some clue. nix. nuts. i guess i’ll just keep singing " long blaaade of steel ". ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frankie-laines-bowie-knife-lyrics/512216/5 "2009-10-01T18:00:31Z")
Wait a minute, what was it about “glitterin’” that didn’t seem to match? ETA: My first listen had me thinking it was “long letter in steel”, like “Here’s a message for you: _schleeeerrrck_.” ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frankie-laines-bowie-knife-lyrics/512216/6 "2009-10-01T18:31:19Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Wait a minute, what was it about “glitterin’” that didn’t seem to match? Seems highly likely to me, actually. What I hear (from memory @ moment) sounds like “long bledd of red steel” with the wrong vowel sound for the second syllable to be the word “blade”. glitterin’ would fit well against “bledd of red” especially with Frankie Laine singing it! ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frankie-laines-bowie-knife-lyrics/512216/7 "2009-10-01T18:37:56Z")
Yes, it’s “glitterin’” – he pronounces it sort of like “glaiterin’,” which may be confusing people, but that’s what it is. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frankie-laines-bowie-knife-lyrics/512216/8 "2009-10-01T20:39:22Z")
[No idea what the Google problem is](http://www.geocities.com/bettyloucountry/bowieknife.htm). " Glitterin’ " ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frankie-laines-bowie-knife-lyrics/512216/9 "2009-10-01T20:46:48Z")
My dad had that album when I was a kid, and for the longest time I hear “long leather and steel”. Eventually, though, I figured out it was “long, glitterin’ steel”. I think part of the problem in hearing the word clearly is that the first word _ends_ with the same letter the second word _starts_ with. When singing, you draw out the vowel sounds and de-emphasize terminal consonants. So the “O” in “long” gets drawn out, and the “G” at the end runs right into the “G” at the beginning of “glittering”. As a result you almost hear the “L” as the first letter of the second word, rather than the “G”. That was my favorite song on the album, so I listened to it a lot. ETA: My god, Frankie Laine had a great voice! ---
**Author:** ![flano1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f14d63/32.png) [@flano1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flano1)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frankie-laines-bowie-knife-lyrics/512216/10 "2009-10-02T00:09:29Z")
thank you thank you After 4+ decades i can mangle the song properly. extra thanks to Elvis for the tabs. told you my google fu was up the spout ---
**Author:** ![donneg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@donneg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donneg)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frankie-laines-bowie-knife-lyrics/512216/11 "2010-10-16T01:23:30Z")
would you happen to have a copy of this… I can’t find it anywhere and I’m pretty good at finding stuff!.. "Bowie knife, Bowie knife… long leather and steel I can also translate any Bee Gees song! [sangme1\_donne@yahoo.com](mailto:sangme1_donne@yahoo.com) OOOOOPps… being a singer… long Glittering steel must be right… the g’s from lonGGlittering are what throws me! does anyone stilll have it!.. thanks (Oh… it is “Ah… Ah… Ah… Ah… Stinkin’ alive, Stinkin’ Alive” ain’t it?)