Album: The Lonesome Crowded West (1997)

License This Song 

• Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
  He goes to the reservation drinks and gets mean
  He's gonna start a war
  He hops in his pickup puts the pedal to the floor
  And says "I got mine but I want more"
  
  Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
  He goes to the reservation drinks and gets mean
  He drove the desert, fired his rifle in the sky
  And says, "God if I have to die you will have to die"
  Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
  He goes the the reservation drinks and gets mean
  I didn't move to the city, the city moved to me
  
  And I want out desperately
  Can't do it, not even if sober
  Can't get that engine turned over
  Standing in the tall grass
  Thinking nothing
  You know we need oxygen to breath
  
  Whenever you are walking you're just moving the ground
  Whenever you are talking you're just moving your mouth
  Where ever you look you're just looking down
  Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
  He goes to the reservation drinks and gets mean
  
  He's gonna start a war
  He hops in his pickup puts the pedal to the floor
  And says "I got mine but I want more"
  Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
  He goes to the reservation drinks and gets mean
  He drove the desert, fired his rifle in the sky
  And says, "God if I have to die you will have to die"
  Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
  He goes the the reservation drinks and gets mean
  I didn't move to the city, the city moved to me
  
  And I want out desperately
  Can't do it, not even if sober
  Can't get that engine turned over Writer/s: ERIC JUDY, ISAAC BROCK, JEREMIAH GREEN
  Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 6

• Jesse from San Antoino, Txpowerful lyrics
• Robert from Beverly Hills, United StatesIsaac Brock has actually said this is one of his only songs that he wrote about a person he knew.
• Mike from Willoughby, OhCowboy Dan is someone who has lost a major in possession in his life, likely his job. He feels it has been unfairly taken from him. Brock mentions he goes to "Reservation" to drink, like how Native Americans were said to be driven to drink "firewater" out of the despair that their land and way of life was being permanently taken by the ever-expanding American menace. He realizes he's in that downward spiral, despairing that things will never change from his current misfortune as he "Can't get that that engine turned over," so he seeks temporary escape in alcohol, where he turns into bleeding heart to whoever he's drinking with (probably strangers or himself, where he'd scream at God) and tells them all to watch out that there's not enough air for everyone to live and what happened to him will happen to them soon.
  
  On an somewhat related note, I had a dream where I was on the last day of my job at a restaurant and all of the restaurant patrons (all unrelated and strangers to me) started singing this song a cappella as I left the restaurant for the last time.
• Marcus from Claremore, OkAnother fact
  this song was written after one of isaacs friends dad whose name happened to be Dan.
  
  HES GONNA START A WAR!!!
• Karyn from Canadai love isaac brock
  = my hero .
• Jeff from Barrington, IlI saw Modest Mouse in concert last weekend and they played this song. All the people who had never heard it before clapped when they thought the song was over, they ended up clapping three times before finally getting it right.

More Songfacts:

Gimme Three StepsLynyrd Skynyrd

Ronnie Van Zant wrote the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic "Gimme Three Steps" after making the mistake of dancing with a girl whose boyfriend was in the bar and probably had a gun. He asked for a 3-step head start.

I Don't Want To Miss A ThingAerosmith

Diane Warren originally wrote Aerosmith's hit tune "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" for Celine Dion.

In the MeantimeSpacehog

The Spacehog song "In The Meantime" samples an obscure recording of telephone noise, which is used at the beginning of the song.

StanEminem

Thanks to Eminem's song, the word "stan" was added to the Oxford American Dictionary in 2017. It means an obsessive fan.

Hey JudeThe Beatles

Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" to comfort John Lennon's 5-year-old son Julian, whose parents were getting a divorce.

(Walking) In the RainThe Ronettes

Ronnie Spector nailed the vocal for The Ronettes song "(Walking) In the Rain" on the first take -- unheard of in the perfectionist producer Phil Spector's world.

Editor's Picks

Steven Tyler of AerosmithSongwriter Interviews

Tyler talks about his true love: songwriting. How he identifies the beauty in a melody and turns sorrow into art.

Jeff TrottSongwriter Interviews

Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.

Sam HollanderSongwriter Interviews

The hitmaking songwriter/producer Sam Hollander with stories about songs for Weezer, Panic! At The Disco, Train, Pentatonix, and Fitz And The Tantrums.

Eagles Lyrics QuizMusic Quiz

Lots of life lessons in these Eagles lyrics - can you match them to the correct song?

Todd RundgrenSongwriter Interviews

Todd Rundgren explains why he avoids "Hello It's Me," and what it was like producing Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album.

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?