Big Iron

[Staghound]

After listening over and over to "Big Iron" and slowly becoming dissatisfied with what I see as some infelicities in the phrasing of some verses, I felt moved to write my own version, 'starring' one of my PCs, named Jeranna. Now when it comes on I sing my own version over the top of it ....

 

To the little town of Nova came Jeranna one fine day,

Hardly spoke to folks around her, didn't have too much to say,

No-one cared to ask her business, no-one dared to make a slip,

For the stranger now among them had a six-gun on her hip.

 

It was early in the morning when she walked into the town,

She came walking from the south side, slowly looking all around;

"She's an outlaw loose and running" came the whisper from each lip,

"And she's here to do some business with the six-gun on her hip".

 

In this town there lived an outlaw who was known as Vegas Red,

Many men had tried to take him, and all of them were dead:

He was vicious and a killer, though a kid of twenty four,

And his gun had twenty notches, with room for twenty more.

 

Then Jeranna started talking, made it plain to folks around,

That she sought her father's killer, wouldn't be too long in town;

She had come to take the outlaw back, alive or maybe dead -

And she said that didn't matter - she was after Vegas Red!

 

Wasn't long before the story reached the ears of Vegas Red,

But the outlaw didn't worry - men that tried before were dead:

Twenty men had tried to take him, twenty men had made a slip,

Twenty one would be Jeranna with the six-gun on her hip.

 

The morning passed right quickly: it was time for them to meet;

It was coming up to noon-time when they walked into the street;

Folk were watching from their windows, everybody held their breath

For they thought the girl Jeranna was about to meet her death.

 

There was forty feet between them when they stopped to make their play

And the swiftness of Jeranna is still talked about today:

Vegas Red had not cleared leather when Jeranna's gun let rip,

And Jeranna's aim was deadly with the six-gun on her hip.

 

It was over in a moment, and the townsfolk gathered round

There before them lay the body of the outlaw on the ground;

Oh he might have gone on living but he made one fatal slip

When he tried to match Jeranna and the six-gun on her hip.

[urbex]

You have too much time on your hands.