I was going deep in my library for various reasons and decided to play El Paso by Marty Robbins, which I mostly remember from waaay back in the day a love song the jockey played when he wanted to take a piss.
I don’t like Robbins voice. I have an old radio I keep in case the weather knocks out my other media. The only station I can pick up out here is a classic country station. The family joke is everytime I turn it on ‘El Paso’ is playing. It’s something like 5 minutes long.
Old 97s cover. El Paso (King of the Hill O.S.T.) - YouTube
Even though it seems like they up the tempo, it’s still five minutes long!
Thanks for the post OP. I’ve heard the song 6 times, and heard bits of it a dozen more — but hadn’t followed the details of the story. Which is surprising since it’s a “story song” and I usually pay attention to lyrics.
But a quick read through shows that, yeah, the narrator is a murdering asshole.
Still I like the sound, the voice, and “I caught a good one, it looked like it could run.”
You see, that’s his problem, right there.
A good lawyer could have gotten an acquittal on the murder charge.
But horse thieving was a hanging offense.
Yeah, the narrator was a son of a bitch, but I still feel for him when he dies.
I like the song a lot even if the narrator is a jerk.
I have fond memories of the Steve Martin video take on the song, with all the non-Steve Martin parts played by chimpanzees. He also rode a really small horse? I haven’t seen it in probably 20 years, but I hear the song, and I see the video in my head.
I don’t know how you get stalker out of the lyrics. And murderer would depend on ho believed who.
It’s obvious, if unstated, that Felina liked him, probably even slept with him, but she didn’t love him. So he’s foolish for believing he was special to her, but there’s no stalking involved. She did come to see him and hold him as he died.
And the posse was probably not authorized and legal, probably just the brothers and/or friends of the deceased. Which would make what they did murder, as well.
And the stranger drew first.
Can’t argue against horse thievin’, though.
It’s a murder ballad. Folk traditions are full of these, including Sam Hall, Frankie and Johnny, Stack O’Lee, and Tom Dooley. Marty Robbins wrote El Paso in 1959, but it sounds much older.
Tangentially related, that is some sweet guitar playing and it goes through the whole song.
I only know this song because of it’s excellent usage in the Breaking Bad finale.
I only know it because the Grateful Dead played it live about 350 times.
Robbins is currently undergoing a renaissance, both for this song in Breaking Bad and Big Iron in Fallout New Vegas.
It’s the longest song on the album, 4:19 or 4:38 depending on version.
On the topic of Murder Ballads, Nick Cave’s album of the same name is excellent.
I love that song and the follow up “El Paso City”. My husband told me there was a prequel song about Felina, but I haven’t heard it.
Here you go, in all its VHS glory… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGNU5FkRz7g
One of my favorite ballads, El Paso tells a great story and I always figured the posse was after our narrator for stealing the horse.
Learned something new tonight, it is not Felina, but rather Feleena.
Remember the sequel song “El Paso City” El Paso City - Wikipedia which features the possibility of reincarnation?
heck Kenny rogers had a murder ballad for a hit in the late 80s but can’t remember the name of it … I wanna call it the tomb of the unknown love …
Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town is one.
A murder need not have ocurred yet for it to be a murder ballad.
It became obsolete as a DJ bathroom break song when Iron Butterfly released “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”.