The Big Easy Top Ten: My Father’s Gun (#10)

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Now that you’ve had the alphabetical list of songs referencing New Orleans, along with a little history lesson about the brothel district, it’s time for the top ten! And, probably to nobody’s surprise, we start the top ten with a very familiar name on my countdowns. Gee, you’d think this guy was my teenybopper idol or something…. #10: My Father’s Gun - Elton John I’ve mentioned this before, but here we go again. Elton John’s lyricist, Bernie Taupin, has always been an American history buff. I guess, to a kid living on a farm in Lincolnshire, it was an incredible subject. His particular interest was in the Wild West and the Civil War. In this song he presents a young man who’d just buried his dad, apparently who’d been killed in the war (“it wouldn’t do to bury him where any Yankee stands”), and picks up dad’s gun and cause. Where’s he going? He doesn’t know, he’s just off to “join the fight again.” The song is also an interesting look at the Confederate mentality, which I think Taupin nailed admirably. Even today you may hear of the “Lost Cause” mentality, and that’s what Bernie wrote in the lyrics here (“we’ll go home to plant the seeds of justice in our bones”). Tumbleweed Connection was one of those pre-superstar albums from Elton John. There were no singles ever released from the album, but it still stands as one of Elton’s greatest albums. My Father’s Gun Written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin Recorded by Elton John From Tumbleweed Connection, 1971 NEW ORLEANS LYRICS: To New Orleans, well that’s just fine, all right