Economy of Language: Heading West (as in Country & Western)
This is the first of a series on various elements of crafting engaging stories by way of looking at popular story-songs. We start with two tunes from the world of country & western music, both classic ballads using a minimum of words: first, “Streets of Laredo” sung by Marty Robbins and, according to various websites, claimed to have been written decades earlier by cowboy Frank H. Maynard, and then “Big Bad John” sung by Jimmy Dean and written by Dean and Roy Acuff.
“Streets of Laredo” (1960)
As I walked out in the streets of Laredo
As I walked out in Laredo one day
I spied a young cowboy, wrapped all in white linen
Wrapped in white linen, as cold as the clay
Oh, beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly
Sing the Death March as you carry me along
Take me to the valley, there lay the sod o’er me
I’m a young cowboy and know I’ve done wrong
I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy
These words he did say as I boldly walked by
Come sit down beside me and hear my sad story
Got shot in the breast and I know I must die
Go fetch me some water, a cool cup of water
To cool my parched lips then the poor cowboy said
Before I returned, his spirit had left him
Had gone to his maker, the cowboy was dead
Oh, beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly
Sing the Death March as you carry me along
Take me to the valley, there lay the sod o’er me
I’m a young cowboy and know I’ve done wrong
“Big Bad John” (1961)
Every mornin’ at the mine you could see him arrive
He stood six-foot-six and weighed two-forty-five
Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip
And everybody knew ya didn’t give no lip to big John
(Big John, big John)
Big bad John (big John)
Nobody seemed to know where John called home
He just drifted into town and stayed all alone
He didn’t say much, kinda quiet and shy
And if you spoke at all, you just said hi to Big John
Somebody said he came from New Orleans
Where he got in a fight over a Cajun Queen
And a crashin’ blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Louisiana fellow to the promised land, big John
(Big John, big John)
Big bad John (big John)
Then came the day at the bottom of the mine
When a timber cracked and men started cryin’
Miners were prayin’ and hearts beat fast
And everybody thought that they’d breathed their last, ‘cept John
Through the dust and the smoke of this man-made hell
Walked a giant of a man that the miners knew well
Grabbed a saggin’ timber, gave out with a groan
And like a giant oak tree he just stood there alone, big John
(Big John, big John)
Big bad John (big John)
And with all of his strength he gave a mighty shove
Then a miner yelled out “there’s a light up above!”
And twenty men scrambled from a would-be grave
Now there’s only one left down there to save, big John
With jacks and timbers they started back down
Then came that rumble way down in the ground
And then smoke and gas belched out of that mine
Everybody knew it was the end of the line for big John
(Big John, big John)
Big bad John (big John)
Now, they never reopened that worthless pit
They just placed a marble stand in front of it
These few words are written on that stand
At the bottom of this mine lies a big, big man
Big John
(Big John, big John)
Big bad John (big John)
(Big John) big bad John
In the words of author Elmore Leonard, when it comes to writing, “Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip” … as in, get rid of the boring stuff.
Go and do likewise.