Uploaded September 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
I wrote this song in 2020 and recorded it in the basement of my sister's place during COVID lockdown. I decided to remix the music and video slightly. The music was an attempt to combine surf music with classic cowboy themes. This version includes my best Ritchie Blackmore imitation in the guitar solo (with the most complex backing rhythm that I've ever played) and some green screen trickery to allow me to step out of the television to get a better guitar (How To ... youtu.be/204-_MqVRVI).
The lyrics in limerick form deal with the loss of innocence, specifically when you realize that your childhood version of Cowboys and Indians was a warped reality that was taught to you by your parents, your schools and cinematic fantasies. The words and video reflect a cowboy false narrative, then an Indian false narrative and finally a Native reality.
In light of the past few years and the discoveries at Canada's residential schools plus the subsequent lack of adequate reconciliation by the Catholic Church, I didn't realize in 2020 how poingnant the line "then take their kids way" would be. This is not a case of the sins of the father, as some of this happened in my lifetime.
I wrote this song in 2020 and recorded it in the basement of my sister's place during COVID lockdown. I decided to remix the music and video slightly. The music was an attempt to combine surf music with classic cowboy themes. This version includes my best Ritchie Blackmore imitation in the guitar solo (with the most complex backing rhythm that I've ever played) and some green screen trickery to allow me to step out of the television to get a better guitar (How To ... youtu.be/204-_MqVRVI).
The lyrics in limerick form deal with the loss of innocence, specifically when you realize that your childhood version of Cowboys and Indians was a warped reality that was taught to you by your parents, your schools and cinematic fantasies. The words and video reflect a cowboy false narrative, then an Indian false narrative and finally a Native reality.
In light of the past few years and the discoveries at Canada's residential schools plus the subsequent lack of adequate reconciliation by the Catholic Church, I didn't realize in 2020 how poingnant the line "then take their kids way" would be. This is not a case of the sins of the father, as some of this happened in my lifetime.
