Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation drinks and gets mean
He's gonna start a war
He hops in his pickup puts the pedal to the floor
And says "I got mine but I want more"

Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation drinks and gets mean
He drove the desert, fired his rifle in the sky
And says, "God if I have to die you will have to die"
Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes the the reservation drinks and gets mean
I didn't move to the city, the city moved to me

And I want out desperately
Can't do it, not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
Standing in the tall grass
Thinking nothing
You know we need oxygen to breath

Whenever you are walking you're just moving the ground
Whenever you are talking you're just moving your mouth
Where ever you look you're just looking down
Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation drinks and gets mean

He's gonna start a war
He hops in his pickup puts the pedal to the floor
And says "I got mine but I want more"
Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation drinks and gets mean
He drove the desert, fired his rifle in the sky
And says, "God if I have to die you will have to die"
Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes the the reservation drinks and gets mean
I didn't move to the city, the city moved to me

And I want out desperately
Can't do it, not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over



Lyrics submitted by PLANES, edited by shaungrady

Track duration: 06:15

"Cowboy Dan" as written by Isaac Brock, Eric Judy, Jeremiah Green

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Cowboy Dan song meanings
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139 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:Everything utter imbecile said is spot-on. However, I think there are two different characters in this song. Most of the song is talking about Cowboy Dan, but the parts that talk about wanting to get out desperately, is told from the perspective of the victims of Cowboy Dan's relentless desire for more.
    Flag ks2774on June 11, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The Entire Song Is About The Pokemon Game Series

    Standing in the tall grass
    Thinking nothing
    -In Pokemon you stand in the tall grass, and you think for the trainer

    Whenever you are walking you're just moving the ground
    Whenever you are talking you're just moving your mouth
    (I didn't move to the city, the city moved to me)
    -The camera constantly stays centered with the trainer giving the idea that the ground moves beneath you, also the main character never speaks, yet shares several dialogues with main characters.

    And says "I got mine but I want more"
    -Gotta Catch'em All Baby

    And I want out desperately
    -The Pokemon do not like being contained, as seen with Pikachu
    Flag AshK1987on May 07, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:i think this whole song is the concept of "Cowboy Dan" just a regular old American who goes through the same complexes as everyone else...being pissed off with being unsatisfied in life which drives everyone to drink themselves to death...blames it on the native americans at the reservation, blames it on god, blames it on the world.....main support is the line "i got mine but i want more" or "i want out desperately but i cant get that engine to turn over" just being frustrated with everything in life "even if sober"
    Flag armstronyon April 28, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Always thought it was about an old cowboy who was too ground into his old ways to adjust to industrialization of wherever he's living. So he turns to alcohol... which always leads to trouble.
    Flag HiveNodeon September 10, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"HE didn't move to the city,
    The city moved to ME"
    I don't know if anyone's commented on this yet, but I find this shift in perspective the middle of the chorus extremely significant. The character of Cowboy Dan stands for Isaac and his contempt of city life, and I feel like he wrote the first few lines of the song trying to disguise his feelings behind this metaphor, got halfway through this chorus, threw up his hands, said "fuck it", and wrote what he really felt.
    Just my $0.02.
    Flag PresidentOfAntarcticaon March 23, 2012   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning:I think Cowboy Dan is a metaphor for America. "He's gonna start a war"(obvious). I also think that when he says "He hops in his pickup puts the pedal to the floor and says 'I got mine but I want more'" is about America's greed and how we always want more even if we have our share. That's true for the Indians, too. We had our land but we wanted more, so we "got in our pickup and said I got mine but I want more" so we took their land. That line works for imperialism, too in the late 1800s and early 1900s. That's my interpretation.
    Flag McMatthew23on February 16, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song was was actually written about the devil and how he lives alone in hell and yeah not white people but the devil great song though
    Flag fadingmemoryon March 30, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:TO me this song is from the Indian's point of view. Cowboy Dan is an indian who feels pressure to be like the white man. He envisions himself as an important influential powerful white man who is a major player on the scene. He wants to start wars. This wanting to be like the white man is killing him... he gets drunk and gets mean to deal with the pressure and the conflict within himself. It's about the influence of the white man on the natives... and to expand it.. the influence of consumerism on all that is natural... Cowboy Dan tries to be this person but he can't... he screams to the white God..that trying to be the white man is killing him and that if he does die this white man's "GOD" should die too. Cowboy Dan is so frustrated.. he is so drunk and out of who he is.. he can't be the white man and he can't be the way he was before everything got fucked by the white man.. he can't drive--a white man's thing-- cause he's so drunk off misery-- he can't get that engine turned over--- like he can't be like these disgusting white men and can't live in their world.. no matter what even if he's sober..(Many many native americans on reservations are alcoholics)...The tall grass part is Cowboy Dan the indian, coming back to who he is.. an Indian.. someone who is one with the land and the world and has respect for the earth and animals..he reminds himself that he only needs oxygen to breathe.. not all that other shit that the white man--collectively, white consumerism-driven America. He comes back to his values and just stands in the grass..the nature that is his home and overcomes the pressure.. but even still it is still hard he gets angry and he drinks to deal with the fucked up situation he's in because of the white man he's angry and disheartened..

    basically it's a struggle of two sides of this native american... and then you can look at it metaphorically and expand it to more of a broad concept of being pissed off that the world isn't being taken care of and is expanded in ways that aren't meaningful

    THis is just what it means to me:)
    Flag kalia07deeon February 01, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is about the constant struggle that is life and the frustration of being controlled and controlled.
    Flag rjbassgon January 30, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:....IT'S BREATHE NOT BREATH. i dont know why that mistake is bothering me so much.
    Flag sheionizeson December 23, 2010   Link

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