The philosophy of modern song: El Paso

Posted on January 15, 2026 by Tony Attwood

By Tony Attwood

This is song number 39 from Bob Dylan’s book “The Philosophy of Modern Song” published in 2022.  There are 66 songs in the book, so we’re just over halfway through.  And what I would say is that even if you don’t care for my commentaries on the songs, at least in this way, with the publication of this series, you can find a copy of each song that Bob describes – or you will be able to by the time we get to the end.

“El Paso” written and recorded by Marty Robbins.  It is not to be confused with other songs of the same name, of which there are several, and this song came from the album “Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs.”  That album was released in October 1959, having been recorded six months earlier.  I’m not sure why there was this delay – if you know, please do write in.  I’m wondering if the record company executives didn’t fancy a song about death, or maybe there was a thought that the radio stations would not play a piece this long.   Little did they realise.

The song was originally thought of as a country ballad, but it became a major hit in the pop charts as well as the country charts, reaching number 1 in both.  It subsequently won awards and was recognised for the fact that it actually has a narrative with a desperately sad ending.   Sad endings were of course, long known in the theatre and some movies, but the notion of putting one into a popular song was, I think, quite unusual.  There had been lost love songs for many years, but not one that I can immediately think of in which the hero is killed.  Yet here it is – and here are the lyrics of the end of the song.

Something is dreadfully wrong, for I feelA deep burning pain in my sideThough I am trying to stay in the saddleI'm getting weary, unable to ride

But my love for Felina is strong and I rise where I've fallenThough I am weary, I can't stop to restI see the white puff of smoke from the rifleI feel the bullet go deep in my chest

From out of nowhere Felina has found meKissing my cheek as she kneels by my sideCradled by two loving arms that I'll die forOne little kiss and Felina, goodbye

That radical (for the time) approach made it a hit in pop and country charts and it won the Grammy award for the best C&W song of the year.  It is still highly regarded today, both for the quality of the composition and for its breakthrough in terms of what could be incorporated in a song.

And indeed I would imagine it is for this that Dylan awards it a place in his post-Nobel Prize book (you may recall as I have noted earlier, it is pretty much required that Nobel Prize winners write a book after getting the Prize).  Not least because in 1998, the 1959 recording of “El Paso” on Columbia Records by Marty Robbins was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

As for the song itself, it takes the form of a story – which may not seem that radical an idea but one has to remember the particular nature of songs.   One only has about four minutes maximum in which to tell the story, the conventions of the popular song have to be kept (ie verses all set to the same music and the same style of accompaniment) and yet there must be enough within the song so that listeners will stay with the music the first time they hear it, but then want to hear it over and over again.   Such a combination of needs makes the writing of songs somewhat harder than one might expect.

Indeed, these requirements are made all the more difficult to meet with a sad story, because by and large, although people will spend money to see a sad movie, they don’t necessarily want to hear of the same sad events over and over again – which of course is the intention of the record makers.

But somehow, perhaps because this is a “first-person narrative” and it relates to the Wild West – something that at the time of the song’s creation was regularly in the thoughts of many because of the Westerns regularly seen on black and white TV, this song worked – somehow this works.

Because of the restrictions of the media (the strophic form with the unvarying music etc) the story has to be told simply, and so, there is a jump in the lyrics from the telling of the story of the past, to the present day with its tragic ending.  It is simple, but somehow (at least for the era in which it was written) it demands to be played over and over again.

The slowdown of the final line (with the last word “goodbye”) does, of course, work, but even so, I personally feel ill at ease with the bouncy nature of the music continuing with “Something is dreadfully wrong, for I feel a deep burning pain in my side.”    But that is just me writing from a 21st-century point of view.

Most certainly, the final verse surely must have had a profound emotional effect on many, many listeners when the song was first released, and for many years thereafter.

From out of nowhere Felina has found meKissing my cheek as she kneels by my sideCradled by two loving arms that I'll die forOne little kiss and Felina, goodbye

And finally, just in case you would like to hear and see Marty Robbins with another song, here is one…

Previously in this series

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