We just covered Billy Joel’s “The Ballad of Billy the Kid,” so I thought we would stay with the same outlaw for another song. This time it’s Joe Ely with Me and Billy the Kid. I’ve always liked Ely and his mixture of country and rock. This song has a great sense of humor, and unlike Billy Joel’s version, the narrator actually knows Billy. The problem is that he can’t stand him! I love the pacing of Ely’s writing. He makes you want to hear another verse and then another.
The song was written by Ely and appeared on his 1987 album Lord of the Highway. Ely got the idea while passing through Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where Billy the Kid was killed. He stopped at a museum and found very little about the outlaw himself. Since so much of Billy’s life was already surrounded by legend, Ely decided to make up his own story. He imagined himself riding with Billy and competing with him for the same woman. He said he wrote the lyrics on the drive from Fort Sumner to Clovis.
What I like about this song is that Ely doesn’t try to make Billy the Kid into some heroic figure. He’s a thoroughly unpleasant character, and the narrator isn’t exactly innocent either. There are jealousies, a Chihuahua, a robbery scheme, and a rather dark ending. All of it is delivered with a driving country-rock sound and Ely’s wonderful storytelling. It certainly isn’t a history lesson, but it’s one entertaining song. And between Billy Joel and Joe Ely, I think we’ve established that Billy the Kid was a pretty popular fellow with songwriters!
In the past few years, I have learned about some incredible artists, and I thank all of you. Joe Ely, Dave Alvin, Doug Sahm, Augie Meyers, Guy Clark, The Flatlanders, and many more. These artists didn’t pop up on the radio as much, and it’s a damn shame.
Me and Billy The Kid
Well, me and Billy the Kid never got along
I didn’t like the way he cocked his hat and he wore his gun all wrong
But we had the same girlfriend and he never forgot it
She had a cute little chihuahua ’til one day I up and shot it
He rode the hard country down the New Mexico line
He had a silver pocket watch that he never did wind
He crippled a piano player for playing his favorite song
No, me and Billy the Kid never got along
Well, me and Billy the Kid never got along
I didn’t like the way he buckled his
Belt and he wore his gun all wrong
He was bad to the bone, all hopped up on speed
I would’ve left him alone if it wasn’t for that senorita
He gave her silver and he paid her hotel bill
But it was me she loved, she said she always will
I’d always go and see her when Billy was gone
No, me and Billy the Kid never got along
Well, me and Billy the Kid never got along
I didn’t like the way he tied his shoes and he wore his gun all wrong
One day I said to Billy, “I got this foolproof scheme
We’ll rob Wells Fargo, it’s bustin’ at the seams”
I admit that I framed him but I don’t feel bad
‘Cause the way I was livin’ was drivin’ me mad
Billy reached for his gun but his gun was on wrong
No, me and Billy the Kid, we never got along
No, me and Billy the Kid never got along
But I did like the way he swayed in the
Wind while I played him his favorite song
Now my baby sings harmony with me to “La Cucaracha”
She winds her silver pocket watch and pets her new chihuahua
I moved into the hotel, I got a room with a shower
We lay and listen to that watch tick hour after hour
Outside I hear the wind blowin’ oh so strong
No, me and Billy the Kid never got along
We never got along
We never got along
We never got along
Never got along
He’d been in the sun too long