Papa Was A Rodeo

July 4, 2011 in 69 Love Songs Vol.2, comics, Contributors | Tags: 69 Love Songs, 69 Love Songs Vol. 2, comics, Magnetic Fields, Nick Thornborrow, Papa Was A Rodeo

by Nick Thornborrow! Love it!

8 comments

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December 21, 2011 at 2:21 pm

This is beautifully drawn, but it bothers me that it portrays a man and a woman. The song lyrics are “I like your twisted point of view, Mike”, which would suggest that either the character singing is female (despite Stephen Merritt being male) or that the two characters in the song are both men.

January 11, 2012 at 2:30 am

Spikelee3000

To the above poster,

1. Mike could be a female nickname.
2. The song turns into a duet at the end between a man and a woman.

If this song was supposed to be about a homosexual relationship, it surely wasn’t as blatant as, say, “When My Boy Walks Down the Street.”

Awesome drawing by the way!

January 27, 2012 at 12:03 pm

David D.

Nicely drawn but–as far as I can tell, this song is about two men. (Mike and the narrator.)

January 27, 2012 at 12:05 pm

David D.

Of course only just saw the above two comments now…blatant or not, Stephen Merritt is gay and male…and the reference to the “trucker’s hand” is pretty pointed.

February 17, 2012 at 4:10 am

Jen

I remember reading that Stephin meant for the song is meant to be sort of a Lee Hazelwood/ Nancy Sinatra tribute. Nancy played a girl named Mike in the movie The Wild Angels.

But then again, gender usually pretty ambiguous in his songs..

March 1, 2013 at 6:26 pm

Saul

At http://69lovesongs.info/wiki/index.cgi?Papa_Was_A_Rodeo, it says:

“Stephin Merritt is reported as saying that, in his mind, Papa Was a Rodeo is sung by a man to a woman called Mike.”

It’s great that their songs celebrate ambiguity and open themselves up to interpretation. I always pictured the character singing to a woman, and that “love was a trucker’s hand” was either out of loneliness or for some extra cash. Check out this version I recorded with a slightly different arrangement:

https://soundcloud.com/saul-of-hearts/papa-was-a-rodeo-magnetic

May 11, 2013 at 5:27 am

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