The first verse of Jimmy Webb's "The Highwayman" is just superb:
I was a highwayman
Along the coach roads I did ride
With a sword and pistol by my side
And many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
And many a soldier shed his life blood on my blade
They finally hung me in the spring of '25
But I am still alive
"But I am still alive." Wow. I'm thinking Sergio Leone, the Man with No Name, like that. And the language and music - very cool.
I was a sailor. I was born upon the tide...
And when the yards broke off they said that I got killed
But I am living still.
Hmmm. Okay, so after the Man with No Name recovers from being hanged, he decides to become a seaman. Well, alright, I...guess so. But I'm still a little concerned about how many more times we're going to have the bit about exaggerated reports of our storyteller's death.
So then, next up is the third verse:
I was a dam builder across the river deep and wide....
A dam builder? From mysterious anti-hero to sailor to dam builder? This isn't going well. And it only gets worse:
I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below
They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound
But I am still around...
I'll always be around...
and around and around and around and around.
Get it? The whole point of these incongruous, anticlimactic employment narratives is that our storyteller has been reincarnated.
Good heavens.
Oh, and by verse four, he's a fucking spaceman:
I fly a starship across the Universe divide
And when I reach the other side
I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will remain
And I'll be back again, and again and again and again and again...
What a catastrophe.
