{"id":127,"date":"2021-09-20T23:08:09","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T03:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/?p=127"},"modified":"2021-12-25T17:14:16","modified_gmt":"2021-12-25T21:14:16","slug":"back-in-the-saddle-again-by-gene-autry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/2021\/09\/20\/back-in-the-saddle-again-by-gene-autry\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Back in the Saddle Again&#8221; by Gene Autry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Gene Autry Back In The Saddle Again\" width=\"1333\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rSqcxFGFVas?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Gene Autry was king of the cowboy movie. With a 60 year reign in the entertainment industry, Autry\u2019s reach spanned much further than movies, branching into radio, TV, and music. His 1939 hit \u201cBack in the Saddle Again\u201d is a feel-good song about a cowboy who simply wants to ride his horse again. The country tune is a story of the singing cowboy\u2019s view of the west with ties to Texan ideology, with lyrics clearly depicting western America as superior territory.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Born in Tioga, Texas in 1907, Gene Autry was raised in both Texas and Oklahoma. His first on-screen appearance was in 1934, where he played himself in <em>In Old Santa Fe.<\/em> It was five years later that Autry recorded \u201cBack in the Saddle Again,\u201d released by Columbia Records on April 18, 1939, and later released on Conqueror and OKeH. \u201cBack in the Saddle Again\u201d was originally written by Ray Whitley for a movie called <em>Border G-Men<\/em>, but Autry purchased the tune from Whitley for $350 and made it his theme song for the rest of his career, performing it in personal appearances every year. The 1939 hit eventually earned Autry his second Gold record, a true testament to his success as America\u2019s favorite cowboy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given Gene Autry\u2019s ties to the Western style of entertainment, \u201cBack in the Saddle Again\u201d is a direct reflection of the Western genre of movies that were popular throughout the twentieth century. Western movies were typically set between 1850 to the end of the nineteenth century in the mountains and the plains of the western United States, past the Mississippi River, specifically the Great Plains and the South West, two areas the white man didn\u2019t explore until after the American Civil war, which took place from 1861 to 1865. Western movies typically relied on the conflict between \u201ccowboys and Indians.\u201d With accurate historical context to support the fabricated storylines of these movies, this conflict would have actually been between the Plains Indians and the white settlers who felt entitled to land that wasn\u2019t theirs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another popular theme of the Western genre was cowboys who drove cattle across the Western pastures to the railroads that powered America\u2019s industries. Cowboys often resided in small communities on the way to their final destinations, and eventually, the law found its way into these residencies. Western movies were thrilling because they depicted extreme adventure based on the appeal of \u201cgunslinging desperadoes\u201d and county sheriffs settling conflict through exciting violence, displaying heroic courage with added drama for an amusing story, a narrative that captivated much of America for about thirty years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s important to first understand the cultural significance of Westerns before attempting to understand how \u201cBack in the Saddle\u201d contributed anything to Texas music. Western movies were highly dramatized versions of actual, impactful United States historical events, created purely for entertainment value. Autry is a Texas native with a voice that fits the lyrical story quite well, and the song transports listeners to an encouraging, golden \u201cvision of the west.\u201d Autry is a natural optimist and took a particular liking to the song because of its upbeat positivity. He especially liked the lyric, \u201cOut where a friend is a friend,\u201d because he valued the importance of friendship. Many of Autry\u2019s costars say that he was easy to get along with and made friends very easily, perhaps why he felt \u201cBack in the Saddle\u201d resonated with him and his happy spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At no point does \u201cBack in the Saddle Again\u201d specifically mention Texas, but it\u2019s hard to argue that the true Texan twang and ideology doesn\u2019t exist within this song. The \u201cOut where a friend is a friend\u201d lyric plays into the idea of Southern hospitality, friends in Texas will always have your back. Furthermore, the line \u201cwhere the longhorn cattle feed\u201d suggests a connection to Texas, based on the history of Tejanos and the longhorn cattle breed. Livestock that originated from Christopher Columbus\u2019 time slowly migrated to Texas in a practice called \u201cseed stock\u201d. Tejanos on the earliest ranches, roughly 1741, were responsible for the careful development of the Longhorn breed. Without Tejano influence, there would have been no cowboy movies for Gene Autry to star in!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of the nature of the country-western influence, there are some controversial lyrics as well. Both of the lines \u201cTotin\u2019 my old .44\u201d and \u201cAnd the only law is right\u201d suggest that the white man\u2019s laws are always right and that the cowboys that Gene Autry sings of tote their .44s, referring to their guns, as a means of enforcing that white man\u2019s law. This ties back to the song\u2019s Western roots and enforces the \u201ccowboys and Indians\u201d stereotype that exists within Texas history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lyrics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m back in the saddle again<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Out where a friend is a friend<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where the longhorn cattle feed<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the lowly jimsonweed<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in the saddle again<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ridin&#8217; the range once more<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Totin&#8217; my old .44<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where you sleep out every night<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the only law is right<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in the saddle again<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whoopi-ty-aye-oh<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rockin&#8217; to and fro<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in the saddle again<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whoopi-ty-aye-yay<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I go my way<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in the saddle again<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Works Cited<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Back In The Saddle Again.&#8221; Lyrics.com, www.lyrics.com\/lyric\/1018759\/Gene+Autry\/Back+in+the+Saddle+Again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;Back in the Saddle&#8217;.&#8221; NPR.org, 24 July 2000, www.npr.org\/2000\/07\/24\/1079912\/npr-100-gene-autry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. &#8220;Western.&#8221; Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com\/art\/western.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Gene Autry Back In The Saddle Again.&#8221; YouTube, www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rSqcxFGFVas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;GeneAutry.com: Gene Autry: Gene&#8217;s Biography.&#8221; GeneAutry.com \u00bb The Official Website of Gene Autry, America&#8217;s Favorite Singing Cowboy, www.geneautry.com\/geneautry\/geneautry_biography.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hernandez, Erica. &#8220;Longhorns and Mustangs Aren\u2019t Originally from Texas. Here\u2019s How We Got Them.&#8221; KSAT, 25 Mar. 2021, www.ksat.com\/news\/local\/2021\/03\/23\/longhorns-and-mustangs-arent-originally-from-texas-heres-how-we-got-them\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lambert, Arden. &#8220;Let Us All Get &#8220;Back in the Saddle Again&#8221; with This Gene Autry Classic.&#8221; Country Thang Daily, 10 Oct. 2019, www.countrythangdaily.com\/gene-autry-back-in-the-saddle-cowboy\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;OKeh.&#8221; The 78 Rpm Club, 78rpm.club\/record-labels\/okeh\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Turner, Stan, &#8220;Gene Autry Discography&#8221;, 1971.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gene Autry was king of the cowboy movie. With a 60 year reign in the entertainment industry, Autry\u2019s reach spanned much further than movies, branching into radio, TV, and music. His 1939 hit \u201cBack in the Saddle Again\u201d is a &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":255,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[35,55,54],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-historic-texan-music","tag-country-western","tag-cowboy-music","tag-gene-autry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":751,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions\/751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}