Don't Crash the Ambulance

[TheTimeWasWrong]

Some clever comments on this page as well: http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858510970/

"Here's one from down voodoo way ... Big enchilada, stealing elections" - this is clearly a reference to Manuel Noriega, who nullified the Panamanian election in May 1989.

"Fat bastard, Ugly Face ... You can't move the barriers, You can't mess with oil and gas, Had to go down there stick a couple aircraft carriers in his ass" - is clearly the Iraq invasion of Kuwait and Saddam Hussein in 1990.

[twm]

RE: "Don't shoot the piano player":

I never thought of old Westerns. Gee, it must be years (a decade or two, perhaps) since I last saw an old Western - even on TV. I suspect that,  if I saw one of them now, unlike my younger self, I would find them faintly risible.

I always thought the phrase meant: Don't shoot the piano player, because he's harmless and only plays this stuff, and, if you must shoot anyone, shoot the songwriter.

The reason I link the phrase to the French must be to do with Truffaut, even though the film title was the opposite.

[JF]

I never thought of old Westerns. Gee, it must be years (a decade or two, perhaps) since I last saw an old Western - even on TV. I suspect that,  if I saw one of them now, unlike my younger self, I would find them faintly risible.

I am a western fan, both classic or spaghetti
a colleague told me recently that his sons couldn't watch old westerns because they would find them risible. You know things about "honor" and all that stuff..
Nevertheless, I think that Rio Bravo, almost all Fords movie, all Leone's ones, are must to see, even now
Hattaway, sturges, Hawks, Mann....god I love almost all their movies
I also love Peckinpah's work, and more recent ones like dead man, silverado, and of course all Eastwood's movies
there are aslo wonderful "outsiders" like Huston, Penn....

[dmg]

I never thought of old Westerns. Gee, it must be years (a decade or two, perhaps) since I last saw an old Western - even on TV. I suspect that,  if I saw one of them now, unlike my younger self, I would find them faintly risible.

I am a western fan, both classic or spaghetti
a colleague told me recently that his sons couldn't watch old westerns because they would find them risible. You know things about "honor" and all that stuff..
Nevertheless, I think that Rio Bravo, almost all Fords movie, all Leone's ones, are must to see, even now
Hattaway, sturges, Hawks, Mann....god I love almost all their movies
I also love Peckinpah's work, and more recent ones like dead man, silverado, and of course all Eastwood's movies
there are aslo wonderful "outsiders" like Huston, Penn....

Rio Bravo's my personal favourite too!  Once Upon A Time In the West is great too (spaghetti western and song)!  I should add A Fistful Of Dollar's which I hadn't actually seen until fairly recently.

[JF]

Once upon a time in the west is my all time favourite movie, ex-aequo with Police python 357
don't ask me why, I know they are both unperfect movies, but I love them since the 1st time I saw them

Rio Bravo is my favourite "classic" american western, and is often considered as the best western in cinema history.
John Carpenter made a remake : Assault I didn't see it but I hope I will someday

[twm]

It's not so much the honour or loyalty aspects of Westerns - I still regard those as valuable, though that may be an old-fashioned view nowadays - but more the predictability of some plots and the stodginess of some dialogue, not to mention the stereotyping of some characters. The technical aspects of some old Westerns can be off-putting, too.

A film like "Hombre", which was based on an Elmore Leonard story, did question some of the stereotyping, though I recall it had little dialogue and was a bit too slow-moving at times. It has an exquisite, existential moment. The "baddie", at the end of a truce or ceasefire in which he offers to trade a hostage for money, asks if there are any questions. The "hero" (maybe not the right word in this instance) replies, "How are you going to get back down the hill?", as he lifts his rifle. In the film it's a sort of clash of cultures.

[dmg]

It's not so much the honour or loyalty aspects of Westerns - I still regard those as valuable, though that may be an old-fashioned view nowadays - but more the predictability of some plots and the stodginess of some dialogue, not to mention the stereotyping of some characters. The technical aspects of some old Westerns can be off-putting, too.

A film like "Hombre", which was based on an Elmore Leonard story, did question some of the stereotyping, though I recall it had little dialogue and was a bit too slow-moving at times. It has an exquisite, existential moment. The "baddie", at the end of a truce or ceasefire in which he offers to trade a hostage for money, asks if there are any questions. The "hero" (maybe not the right word in this instance) replies, "How are you going to get back down the hill?", as he lifts his rifle. In the film it's a sort of clash of cultures.

I understand what you say in that they can be contrived but the classic ones are still milestones in cinema history and shouldn't be overlooked.  Still, it's been a while since I've seen one myself;  I'm not a great fan, just a film buff in general.

@JF.  Although I've always enjoyed Rio Bravo on a personal level I've always thought that westerns like Red River to be the best made.  The Shootist (1976) is also an excellent film.  Made when John Wayne was dying from cancer he played an ageing gunslinger who, likewise was dying.   

[Daan]

Maybe it's just a basic meaning like I always used to think; When you mess something up, don't do it with your second chance as well!