Willie Nelson: Denver
2007.Oct.30
Some truths of life: Willie Nelson will collaborate with anybody. Name your ASCAP or BMI artist and they are on a Willie track. Toby Keith? Check. Snoop Dogg? Check. A secondary or tertiary deBarge brother?1 Check. Willie also digs pot. Established and we move along. We should be much more concerned that Willie Nelson also seems to dig not giving a fuxk. Similar to, say, Ani DiFranco and maybe Prince, if there are >=10 tracks that on average reach past 3:00 this dude is going to put it on an album and that album is going out. No questions entertained or answered. Finally, Red Headed Stranger is to be consumed whole, in order. Presenting even one piece of it out of context is a great disservice.
So let’s take Red Headed Stranger out of context and consider “Denver” here:
Like ten thousand jewels in the sky
And it's nobody's business where you're goin'
Or where you come from
And you're judged by the look in your eye
In a quiet little out of the way place
And they smiled at each other as he walked through the door
And they danced with their smiles on their faces
And they danced with a smile on their face
Pretty short. But it’s got little pieces of most of the album’s tropes and could almost be considered a microcosm: some cowpoke poetry (jewels), some Western morality (judged), a tavern (a tavern), and looming tragedy (the smiles don’t last). It’s all there! Plus it’s in 3/4. What more could you want?
Actually, let’s answer that: For starters, less killing. This album is a masterpiece, but let’s not forget that the protag murders two women in it. Innocent women, really. Ethically sketchy but technically not criminal and certainly not deserving of murder death. Having said that: you really shouldn’t try to steal someone’s horse. Rude. Pow.
MAPPING IT
Denver, but where? How about the site of Denver’s Hotel Teatro, nodding Cowboy-style to a nice place to stay and the name of another ace Nelson album.
HEARING IT
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Eh, maybe. Not infeasible, though. ↩