Over the years, I’ve wondered why the bands Calexico and Brokeback both released a song called “Flat Handed and on the Wing.” Calexico’s version first appeared in 2000 on Travelall, a tour-only release. The Brokeback rendition came a few months later as the second track on their 2001 album Morse Code in the Modern Age:Continue reading “Flat Handed and on the Wing”
Tag Archives: Calexico
Cowboy
The image of the cowboy in the American West holds fascination and power. It’s a portable symbol that has been utilized for a variety of purposes, whether in entertainment, marketing, or politics. The cowboy myth was perpetuated in dime store novels and show business while the events associated with the Wild West were still happening.Continue reading “Cowboy”
Drover
In 2011, Bill Callahan released his most critically-acclaimed album, Apocalypse. Recorded in the border town of Tornillo, Texas, the tone of the album is informed by Callahan’s relocation to Texas a few years before as he recalled in a 2022 interview with Uproxx: “When I first moved to Texas, I always felt like I wasContinue reading “Drover”
Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)
There’s a moment during the climax of Sam Peckinpah’s 1969 ultra-violent Western The Wild Bunch that is a direct connection to Bob Dylan’s song “Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)” off of his 1978 album Street-Legal. In the film, the outlaw gang, who serve as the plot’s anti-protagonists, are engaged in the biggest, bloodiest shootout depictedContinue reading “Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)”
Goin’ to Acapulco
My ideal response to a song after listening is that I want to have the urge to inhabit the world of the song. Sometimes this inhabitation means living inside the world as created literally by the lyrics being sung, or to go on the same adventure or share the same experiences as depicted by theContinue reading “Goin’ to Acapulco”
Recliner Notes 