# old songs-revisted-El paso **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635 "2019-09-22T01:46:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/1 "2019-09-22T01:46:18Z")
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. 1. It really isn’t that long. 2. The song isn’t really even close to heroic or love song as I remember it being presented. the narrator is a straight up stalker/murderer who needed shootin’, good job by the posse. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/2 "2019-09-22T02:40:11Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/3 "2019-09-22T13:13:07Z")
Old 97s cover. [El Paso (King of the Hill O.S.T.) - YouTube](https://youtu.be/EcwH-MzudnA) Even though it seems like they up the tempo, it’s still five minutes long! ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/4 "2019-09-22T13:29:10Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/5 "2019-09-22T14:05:42Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/6 "2019-09-22T21:38:41Z")
Yeah, the narrator was a son of a bitch, but I still feel for him when he dies. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/7 "2019-09-22T21:55:03Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/8 "2019-09-22T21:58:16Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > . > 2. The song isn’t really even close to heroic or love song as I remember it being presented. the narrator is a straight up stalker/murderer who needed shootin’, good job by the posse. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/9 "2019-09-23T07:59:41Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/10 "2019-09-23T20:00:07Z")
Tangentially related, that is some sweet guitar playing and it goes through the whole song. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/11 "2019-09-23T20:31:57Z")
I only know this song because of it’s excellent usage in the _Breaking Bad_ finale. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/12 "2019-09-23T20:52:43Z")
I only know it because the Grateful Dead played it live about 350 times. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/13 "2019-09-23T21:14:20Z")
Robbins is currently undergoing a renaissance, both for this song in Breaking Bad and Big Iron in Fallout New Vegas. > [@wolfman](#): > > 1. It really isn’t that long. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/14 "2019-09-23T22:11:27Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![txtumbleweed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@txtumbleweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txtumbleweed)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/15 "2019-09-24T01:45:59Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > 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. Here you go, in all its VHS glory… [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGNU5FkRz7g](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. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/16 "2019-09-24T02:32:25Z")
Remember the sequel song “El Paso City” [El Paso City - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Paso_City) which features the possibility of reincarnation? ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/17 "2019-09-24T03:21:11Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > 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. 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 … ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/18 "2019-09-24T03:23:42Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/19 "2019-09-24T03:28:25Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > 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. It became obsolete as a DJ bathroom break song when Iron Butterfly released “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635/20 "2019-09-24T09:11:15Z")
> [@Periwinkle](#): > > 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. [Feleena (From El Paso)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryzIX09s2o4). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-revisted-el-paso/840635.md?page=2)