Lyric discussion by DukeW 

Coulda sworn "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" was Warren's second-best-known song, but that's not important. What is important is that Warren was a mercenary in his youth, and songs like "Jungle Work" are semi-autobiographical in nature. Roland wasn't a real person, but is a mixture of several people, as was "that SOB Van Owen." Lots of supposedly educated people like to read things into songs and books that just aren't there. This is one of those cases. This is a simple story of warfare and revenge, to the tune of a Thompson submachine gun. And the term "bought it" refers to "buying the farm," or dying in battle. Seems Roland still doesn't like Commies, even after death. Save the overly erudite nonsense for Wikipedia -- I understand they love that kind of thing over there.

Duke you are missing the point, perhaps of all analysis, which is to study what's there, regardless of the artist's intention (though in this case I believe magpi1's theory to be closer to the intended message as it accounts for the flourish, list of locations known for their conflict, and Patty Heart's being mentioned at all, at the end of the song). You come across as quite unpleasant.

How do these stories with just the slightest grain of truth get started? Warren was not a mercenary. In the mid '70's, he moved to Sitges, Spain. He wound up living and playing regularly at a bar called "The Dubliner". It was owned by a character named David Lindell. Now, he was a former mercenary. Together they wrote , "Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner".As far as the final line that reads, " Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's Thompson Gun and bought it. I believe "...and bought it" means that after she was kidnapped by the guerrilla group "The...

@DukeW What are you talking about? I met VanOwen and bought him a round of Aviation Gin. I met up with Roland later, and after supplying him with new magazines, ammo, and gun lube, was a happy well-adjusted individual. He did have some trouble articulating orders orally and he really did not trust our CIA.

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