Songs and the City

Not just another boring country song: Tunes for twisted cowboys

The Sugarcubes
Calfone
Ween
Velvet Underground
Howe Gelb

The Rodeo is in full force, a bull's broken into the parking lot, cowboy hats are everywhere in town and this installment of Songs and the City celebrates the spirit gripping our city. There were actually quite a large number of relevant songs to choose from in my collection, but to keep things interesting I shied away from the typical country and western fare, opting instead for more obscure and slightly askew cowboy ditties.

Turn them up and ride 'em high!

"Cowboy (1970 Live Version)" by Randy Newman

Adobe Flash Required for flash player.

Could you get any further from the image of the iconic cowboy hero than on this classic downer? Never one to be predictable, Newman uses the portrait of a defeated cowboy to mourn the rampant development that's swallowing up the countryside, where "cold gray buildings," "steel and concrete" replace the "wind that once blew free" and "scatters dust to the sky."

It's an environmental lament of the highest order and one that's sadly still relevant today, more than 40 years since it was first recorded.

"Hey Cowboy" by Lee Hazlewood with Nina Lizell

Adobe Flash Required for flash player.

Taken from the 1970 album "Cowboy in Sweden," this classic duet is vintage Hazlewood, all syrupy strings, punchy horns and subversively humorous lyrics that send up the traditional cowboy archetype. You can hear the giddiness in Hazlewood and Lizell's voices, their flirty chemistry rivaling the better known work Hazlewood recorded with muse Nancy Sinatra. "You get that straight little Swedish girl?"

"Cowboy Boots" by Howe Gelb

Adobe Flash Required for flash player.

"Cowboy boots on cobblestone," deadpans Howe Gelb in this ode to homesickness, referring to the streets of Aarhus, Denmark, the city from where his wife hails and where he spends much of the year. The sentimentality is tempered by a reserved satisfaction that while he misses his hometown of Tucson, he's come to enjoy the pleasures of this foreign land: "No matter how much I miss the Copper State/Poca Cosa and their relleño plate/I’m doing good work here at any rate/I’m a satiated expatriate.”

"Cowboy" by The Sugarcubes

Adobe Flash Required for flash player.

Hearing a bunch of art-school Icelanders sing about a cowboy is priceless. I've spent some time in that beautiful country and I can tell you there's nary a cowboy to be found on the entire island. Sheepboys, perhaps, but not a bonafide rough and tumble cowboy.

While they do have a really cute breed of small horses, I'm afraid the boots of most rodeo cowboys would scrap the ground when they mount these pony-like steeds. Judging from the inane lyrics, these Icelanders do have a twisted imagination, which for a band boasting a young Bjork as one of its singers, is not too surprising.

"Lonesome Cowboy Bill" by The Velvet Underground

Adobe Flash Required for flash player.

There's something off about the Lower East Side's kings of über-cool singing a straightforward song about a rodeo cowboy. You'd at least expect the cowboy to be strung out on smack or trawling the dusty streets looking for a cowgirl of the night. But no, here you have Lou Reed and crew practically yodeling their way through this jaunty tale of a studly cowboy.

"Japanese Cowboy" by Ween

Adobe Flash Required for flash player.

Gene and Dean Ween are often pigeonholed as bratty cosmic goofballs with a voracious appetite for psychedelics, but a closer inspection of their catalog reveals immensely talented and highly versatile musicians who know their way around a song. That said, they're still demented, and "Japanese Cowboy" is proof positive of their skewed approach to pop music.

Surrounded by some of Nashville's best studio musicians (the Jordanaires, Buddy Spicher, Charlie McCoy, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, and Russ Hicks) Ween turn in a straight-up C&W winner. As they say in the song, "Like a Japanese cowboy or a brother on skates... something ain't right." Even so, when Ween brings the twang, this music lover is all ears.

"Porno Starlet vs. Rodeo Clown" by Califone

Adobe Flash Required for flash player.

Melding electronics and avant-garde soundscapes with traditional American blues and folk music, Califone explores the desperate existence of an aging prostitute on this compelling track from the band's full-length debut, "Roomsounds." The rodeo clown referenced in the title surely works on the small-town circuit, the glamour of the Reliant lights long since faded.

The bleakness of the music adds to the darkness of the lyrics and Tim Rutili's haggard delivery. "The porno starlet hovers in the eaves/watching her own body fake and writhe/Mascara around her cataract eyes, bruises on her knees/She goes home to a rodeo clown/pissing on his hands for luck/dragging from the balls of a bull/concussion barrel sings."

"Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other" by Willie Nelson

Adobe Flash Required for flash player.

Originally written and recorded by Ned Sublette in 1982, this cheeky country waltz turns the cowboy mythology on its head. Ever the master interpreter, Willie wisely plays it straight (no pun intended), ensuring it doesn't come across as a cheap gag. The lyrics are a study in clever satire, drawing parallels between cowboy stereotypes and gay culture ("What did you think those saddles and boots was about?") and shattering the exaggerated machismo of the cowboy archetype ("Well, a cowboy may brag about things that he does with his women/But the ones who brag loudest are the ones that are most likely queer.")

"Singing Cowboy" by Love

Adobe Flash Required for flash player.

The singing cowboy was an ubiquitous character in early Western films, first appearing on the silver screen in the 1930s with Ken Maynard and reaching mass popularity with Gene Autry. However, Love's Arthur Lee seems to have it in for one particular white-hatted Western hero of song in this blistering psychedelic workout from 1969, and he challenges the singing cowboy with an unusually aggressive lyrical attack: "So when you say goodbye/don't you cry/cos look out kid/I'm coming after you."

"Tune for Short Cowboys" by The Outlaws (produced by Joe Meek)

Adobe Flash Required for flash player.

For all you vertically-challenged cowboys out there, this song's for you!

Movie Review

Timothée Chalamet cements star status in new movie Marty Supreme

Timothée Chalamet

Courtesy

Timothée Chalamet

In a time when true movie stars seem to be going extinct, Timothée Chalamet has emerged as an exception to the rule. Since 2021 he has headlined blockbusters like the two Dune movies and Wonka, and also earned an Oscar nomination for playing Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown (his second nomination following 2018’s Call Me By Your Name). Now, he’s almost assured to get his third nomination for the stellar new film, Marty Supreme.

Chalamet plays Marty Mauser, a world-class table tennis player living in New York. But reducing Marty to his best skill doesn’t do him justice, as he’s also a motormouth schemer who will do almost anything to achieve his dreams. He doesn’t have any qualms about wooing married women like neighbor Rachel (Odessa A’zion) or actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), or hiding his true ping pong skills to win money in scams with friends like Wally (Tyler the Creator).

Marty is seemingly on the go the entire movie, whether it’s trying to convince Kay’s millionaire husband Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary) to fund his table tennis ambitions; or trying to track down the dog of Ezra (Abel Ferrara), a man he accidentally injures; or trying to avoid the ire of the boss at the shoe store where he works. Just when you think he might slow down, he’s off to the races on another plan or adventure.

Directed by Josh Safdie and written by Safdie and frequent co-writer Ronald Bronstein, the film is an almost continuous blast of pure energy for 2 ½ hours. So many different things happen over the course of the film that the story defies conventional narratives, and yet the throughline of Marty keeps everything tightly connected. His particular type of brash behavior turns much of the film into a comedy as he does and says things that are both shocking and thrilling.

Another thing that makes the movie sing is the fantastic characterization by Safdie and Bronstein. Almost every person who is given a speaking line in the film has a moment where they pop, which speaks to airtight dialogue that the writers have created. Characters will be introduced and then disappear for long stretches of time, and yet because they make such an impression the first time they’re on screen, it’s easy to pick up their thread right away.

Safdie, as he’s done previously with brother Bennie (Uncut Gems), calls on a host of well-known non-actors or people with interesting faces/vibes to inhabit supporting roles, and to a person they are crucial to the film’s success. O’Leary (of Shark Tank fame), rapper Tyler the Creator, director Ferrara, magician Penn Jillette, and fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi each deliver knockout performances. The relative unknowns who play smaller roles are just as impressive, making each beat of the film feel naturalistic.

Leading the way is the powerhouse performance by Chalamet. For one person to believably play both the famously reserved Dylan and also a firecracker like Marty is astonishing, and this role cements Chalamet’s status as his generation’s movie star. A’zion is a rising star who gets great moments as Marty’s on-again/off-again love interest. Paltrow pops in and out of the film, lighting up the screen every time she appears. Fran Drescher as Marty’s mom and Sandra Bernhard as a neighbor also pay dividends in small roles.

Josh Safdie’s first solo directorial effort is unlike any other movie this year, or maybe even this century. Thanks to its breakneck storytelling, a magnificent performance by Chalamet, and countless intangibles that Safdie employs expertly, the film smacks viewers in the face repeatedly and demands that they come back for more.

---

Marty Supreme opens in theaters on December 25.

Loading...