The Philosophy of Modern Song: “Don’t take your guns to town”

Posted on July 5, 2026 by Tony Attwood

 

Commentary by Tony Attwood

“Don’t take your guns to town” was written and recorded by Johnny Cash and appears in Dylan’s book “The Philosophy of Modern Song”.

When I first approached the idea of looking at the songs in the book and possibly writing about them, this was one of the songs that made me abandon my approach, since I personally can find little of merit in it.  That is by no means to say that I am right and Bob is wrong – I am sure the fault is with me – but I have decided to review all the songs in the volume – including the ones (like this) whose importance to Bob I can’t understand.  So here we go…

I have to admit from the start that I have real problems with Johnny Cash’s simple moralising songs – of which this is a 1958 edition.  I know he lived a life that allows him every right to moralise, but somehow, they are not for me….   And this was voted one of the top 100 Western songs of all time.  And that leads to another problem for me as I don’t watch Westerns, so my thoughts are obviously of even less consequence here than might otherwise be the case.   But I am writing a series of reviews of all the songs in the book, so here goes….

And in this regard I can offer the facts.  The song was issued as a single with “I Still Miss Someone” on the B side and was on the album “The Fabulous Johnny Cash”.  As for the moral of the song, you can guess it from the title, and you will be right.   The question of what the “son” was doing with guns in the first place…. well….

It stayed at number one for six weeks on the country chart, so this is not just Bob liking the track – many, many others did, and it actually got to number 32 on the Hot 100 chart.   It was also then re-recorded by Johnny Cash as “The Junmkie and the Juicehead Minus Me” and the original was recorded again in 1988 with Willie Nelson.

And I do recognise that I am very much out of line with not finding any appeal in the song at all, not just because I can’t understand why Bob put it into his “Philosophy” book but also because it appears that members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.   If you understand much more than me (which willl not be difficult) would you care to write a comment on the song – or even a fulsome review (in which case email it to Tony’@schools.co.uk and I’ll publish it as an article in its own right).

So, overall, I am therefore very much out of line in not liking this song at all, but I am also left pondering why Bob, a writer who could compose such complex and intriguing songs, would want to include this in his book.

And because of this, I think I should quote the details that are given by Wiki in relation to Bob’s decision to choose this song

“In the essay, Dylan highlights Cash’s genius for narrative and contrasts the track’s driving predictability with the intricate arrangements of other story songs like Marty Robbins’ “El Paso. 
“Dylan treats Cash’s cautionary tale of a young, foolish cowboy as a broader meditation on human hubris and fate. He breaks down how Cash’s simple, steady tempo perfectly serves the tragic narrative, proving that less complex song structures are equally impactful when used to relay a timeless moral.”

Previously in this series

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