December 30, 2005
Dan Harshberger came out at ten and we had a big design pow-wow in the office. Bob and Trish Brink, Meghan Saar, Robert Ray and Abby Pearson weighed in with good feedback. We got some great work done, tweaking and trouble-shooting both new design ideas but dealing with persistent problems (tight space, big ideas). Got some new ideas on our Confessions of a Ghost Town Maniac feature and also our town piece for the next issue (March). I treated Dan, Robert Ray and Meghan to lunch at El Encanto. Sat outside (don’t tell our snowbound friends!). Place slammed with tourists. Had the machaca and eggs and decaf coffee. I treated ($34, includes tip).

I’m enjoying my new iPod immensely. I mostly listen on my way into work and on the way home (anything to avoid commercial radio). For two days straight now I have listened and re-listened to Bob Dylan's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid album. I am particularly struck by how he changed the words on each take in the Billy Theme trilogy, just slightly, but each version has its own strength and power. In fact, if you asked me, he captures more power in each two or three minute song than most of the books written on the Kid. Dylan has such an ability to get at the iconic, but at the same time personal aspects of a legend. Here’s the three different sets of lyrics

Billy 1:
There’s guns across the river aimin’ at’cha
Lawmen on your trial, they‘d like to catch ya
Bounty hunters too they’d like to get ya
Billy they don’t like ya to be so free

Campin’ out all night on the veranda
Dealin’ cards ‘til dawn in the hacienda
Up to boothill they’d like to send you
Billy don’t you turn your back on me

Playin’ around with some sweet seniorita
into her dark hallway she will lead you
In the shadows of the mesa she will greet you
Billy you’re so far away from home.

Billy 4
There guns across the river ‘bout to pound you
Theres a lawman on your trail, like to surround you
Bounty hunters, are dancin’ all around you
Billy they don’t like you to be so free

Campin’ out all night on the veranda
Walkin’ the streets down by the hacienda
Up to boothill they’d like to send ya’
Billy don’t you turn your back on me.

There’s muse [not sure of this word] inside the minds of crazy faces
Bullet holes and rifles in their cases
There’s always one more notch and four more aces
Billy and you’re playin’ all alone

Playin’ around with some sweet seniorita
Into her dark chamber she will greet you
In the shadows of the mesa she will lead you
Billy and you’re goin’ all alone

They say that Pat Garret’s got your number
So sleep with one eye open when you wonder
If every little sound just might be thunder
Thunder from the barrel of his gun

There’s always another stranger sneakin’ glances
Some trigger happy fool willin’ to take chances
Some old whore of Pedro’s to make advances [great line, not sure of my accuracy]
Advances on your feeling and your soul

The businessmen from Taos want you to go down
So they’ve hired Mr. Garret to force ya to slow down
Billy don’t it make you feel so low down
To be hunted by the man who was your friend

So hang onto your woman if you got one
Remember in El Paso once you shot one
Up in Santa Fe you bought one
Billy you’ve been runnin’ for so long

Gypsy Queens will play your Grand Finale
Way down in some Tularosa alley
Maybe in the Rio Pecos Valley
Billy you’re so far away from home.
Repeat

Billy 7
Spend the night with some sweet seniorita
Into her dark hallway she will lead you
In some lonesome shadow she might greet you
Billy your so doggone far away from home

They say that Pat Garrett’s got your number
Sleep with one eye open when you slumber
Ever little sound just might be thunder
Thunder from the barrel of his gun

Maybe you will find yourself tomorrow
Drinking in some bar to hide your sorrow
Spendin’ the time that you borrowed
Figur-ring a way to get back home

“The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.”
—Jonas Salk