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A cowboy poet, be it a he or she, in general proclaims a dramatic event with livestock experienced on a ranch in wide-open spaces. However, like cowboys themselves, their poetry style or content isn’t hampered or fenced in by barbed wire and other constraints. It’s normally strong in meter and rhyme following the style of Robert Service, one of the outstanding poets of all time, but it may also be free verse or anything in-between.
Cowboys honed their poetry on the cattle trail from Texas north to Kansas and beyond. When you spend galore hours in the saddle with just your horse and cows for speech your thoughts tend to flow in verse. The erythematic motion of horses and cattle probably added to the rhyme and meter in their poetry. This was the birth of American Cowboy poetry, as we recognise it today.
The art of that spoken verse was flavored by a blend of British, Irish, Scotch, and Welsh crossed with Mexican, African, and Native American lingo. Even more nationalities melted into the mix for the duration of the gold rush. This language mix could have influenced cowboy’s distinctive spelling style. As in, a creek is a crick, breeching is britchen, and even my teacher mother, raised in the Dakotas and Montana, couldn’t stomach calling a bronc a bronco. That name was just too flowery for a tough, ornery horse.
However, “Spanish is the Lovin’ Tongue” from which we acquired much of our cow talk as pointed out in Mike Logan’s poem, of the same name, explains (excerpt below).
If Spanish is the lovin’ tongue
It’s likewise “talkin’ cow.”
The Mexican vaqueros
Is the ones that taught us how
To work the herd and what to call
The things we didn’t know.
Their words flowed north plumb natural
From down in Mexico.
There are cowboy poems of love, lies, and hilarity as well as those of wrecks and heroism. Some poets write of unfeigned events and inspiration while others figure that sticking too close to the truth will spoil a good story. Most will also have stories of bestloved horses, dogs, and old friends, but all have a deep feel for livestock or at least the country way of life.
Great storytellers have emerged while others are more introverts that just write down their emotions. Today scheduled gatherings all around the country host these poem demonstrations with a few still spewed around the campfire like days of old. We are thankful that the history of ranch life is passed down in this habit of brotherhood so our children will have an idea of how their ancestors lived. History books just don’t tell it all. They miss the where, what, and why of Cowboy Poetry.
- Amazon Sales Rank: #13257 in Music
- Released on: 2003-11-11
- Number of discs: 2
- Dimensions: .24 pounds
| Album DescriptionCrimebusters and Crossed Wires is a collection of ten stories, with unfeigned tales of (sometimes hapless) crimefighters and investigators of all sorts on one CD, and real-life adventures in miscommunication on the other. From a bungling, squirrel-chasing cop who burns, bloodies, and tears apart a new house in pursuit of the rogue rodent, to a father who resorts to tapping his drug-using teen’s phone, Crimebusters and Crossed Wires offers comical and poignant insight. Among the storytellers featured are best-selling writers David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell.
If storytelling and oral history oftentimes seem like endangered species in a culture overshadowed by disposable infotainment, NPR host Ira Glass could be seen as something of a preservationist, his low-key passion for the magic moments that inform each day life the driving strength behind his successful This American Life radio series. This second series anthology culls it is 10 stories onto two discs loosely centered around notions of “Crimebusters” and “Crossed Wires.” And while professional writers like Sarah Vowell and David Sedaris (whose bemused take on nationality-diverse French class attempting to explain their respective impressions of Easter is characterized by mounting, masterfully constructed hilarity) participate, they are hard-pressed to better the tales of each and everyday humans that are the collection’s de facto focal points: a rookie cop’s attempts at corralling a household-invading squirrel turning into chaotic slapstick worthy of Sellers or Benigni; a Beverly Hills teen and his father making war, then peace over a spiraling drug problem; Starlee Kline and Mekons founder Jon Langford forming a band of strangers solely through classified ads. Less enamored of their own voices and ideas, those tales of “everyday people” are the collection’s unfeigned treasures. –Jerry McCulley
About the ArtistThis American Life is one the most usual yet strange programs on radio today. The show airs on over 400 public (mostly NPR) radio stations throughout the country, and is heard by 1.5 million listeners each week. Ira Glass, host of This American Life, is a cult figure amidst the show’s devotees, pop-culture intelligentsia, and contemporary lit fans. He was named America’s Best Radio Host by Time magazine in 2001. Glass begun This American Life in 1995, and devised a distinguishable style of reporting and producing, creating stories that were intimate, amusive and surprising. “The stories unfold like little movies for radio,” says Glass. “People who’ve never heard it detect the divergence immediately.” The show regularly features pieces from well-known writers like David Sedaris (Me Talk Pretty One Day) and Sarah Vowell (Take the Cannoli) who bestow to this “greatest hits” CD.
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Crimebusters Crossed Wires Stories American Image
Crimebusters Crossed Wires Stories American Image
Crimebusters Crossed Wires Stories American Picture
Crimebusters Crossed Wires Stories American Pic
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful.
 WARNING: Don’t listen to this one with a full bladder!
By K. Corn
THe first story alone (about an unfortunate incident involving a squirrel and a couple of rookie policemen) had my husband and I laughing SO hard we collapsed onto the nearest chairs. The rest of the excerpts from THis American Life are equally fun to listen to, but we still think the squirrel story is the topper. If you’re taking a road trip, this will definitely keep you awake and its a nice choice for a snowy or rainy afternoon, when you just want to veg out. Excellent!
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful.
Take a moment…listen to a story or two…
By earlymorningsun
I you’re familiar with the radio show This American Life, then you know the vibe of this CD. If you’re not familiar, you’re in for a treat. These stories give you the perfect excuse to turn off the TV, unplug the phone, and do something that we never really do anymore in this fast-paced world: listen to stories. Being a musician, I love the story about forming a band from the classified ads. Tragic and hilarious…been there! Get this CD, you’ll really enjoy it.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
This American Life Rocks!
By Miles Price
This second volume of “the best” of “This American Life” is another gem! Each of these stories is amazing in its own right, and each is a perfect example of what a phenomenal show TAL really is.
Most of these stories are on the humorous side, which is really just one side of the show; however, it’s still a well-rounded collection. If you are trying to turn someone on to the show, this is an excellent CD to introduce them to it.
The only thing that I didn’t like about the CD was the time between Vols. 1 & 2. Come on, TAL…give us more of the best!
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