“And I lost hope when I was still so young
Had an angel on my shoulder
But the devil always won.”
Artist: Delta Rae
Song: “Chasing Twisters”
Album: Chasing Twisters EP
Year: 2013
Song Meaning
Conjuring cowboy magic, courtesy of Pecos Bill.
No Finesse in the Wild West
We were cycling to pop hits and oldies like every other class one day until the instructor put on this Western rough-rider anthem during a grueling mountain climb. All of a sudden, I was peddling 20 RPMs faster, my heart rate was bouncing above 170 BPMs. For the length of the song, I was invincible. Upon my mechanical steed, that metaphorical mountain was my prey.
Now, I’m all about music-juicing during a workout, but that’s not why we’re here. I went home and researched this song and stumbled upon two staggering conclusions:
- I actually had heard this song before.
- That song did not sound like this.
I dug further. As it turns out, the stampeding powerhouse you hear above was from Delta Rae’s 2013 Chasing Twisters EP. For their following album in 2015, they performed a more refined version of the same song. It’s subtly less powerful, which is why I didn’t remember it:
Three things:
- This is a rare case where I would say hide the violins and ride the guitars to Death Valley.
- The drum beats aren’t as pronounced, especially at the beginning, but they need to be kicking down saloon doors right when they strut into town. I’m all for slow builds, but not when you spoil me with the full-beat badness of the original version. There’s no finesse in the Wild West.
- Also, the second version is more than a minute shorter! I need at least four minutes on a mountain to sustain a full anaerobic heart rate. We outlaws need our anthems long and drawn out. More time for sweat and blood. No time for tears.
Find the EP version and get that goodness on your workout playlist.
Random Notes
- I took a spinning class during the winter to stay fit. I liked it, OK?
- Cool cowboy whistles – I’m OK with more of these.
- Who’s in the mood to play some Bang! right now?
The Roundtable 