Saloon Girls - Song Page
©
from the album Out on the Tallgrass Prairie
Album note:
Song recalls nostalgic childhood memories of little girls portraying saloon girls and acting out stories from “Gunsmoke” – but thankful that today women’s roles have changed.
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LYRICS
When I was a kid, I had a best friend.
We’d act out big stories and liked to pretend.
We’d each play a girl from the Long Branch Saloon,
Out-smarting gamblers and two-bit tycoons.
We’d dress up in our mothers’ soft camisole tops,
With layers of beads from her big jewelry box.
In mama’s high heels and petticoat slips,
Wearing rouge on our cheeks and dark red lip-stick.
While other kids might have been watching cartoons,
We watched the westerns with girls in saloons.
We just got one channel, but that was alright.
The best show was Gunsmoke on Saturday night.
The grown-ups stopped work, and we’d all gather round
To see what big trouble Dodge City had found.
Matt Dillon and Kitty would team up to beat
Those hustlers and rustlers and thieves on the street.
So our stories took place in the Long Branch Saloon
Where smelly outlaws would spit in spittoons.
We took turns playing Kitty, the owner and boss,
Matt’s right-hand gal in upholding the law.
Kitty was pretty, savvy and wise,
Using her charms to help catch those bad guys.
We didn’t know beans about girls’ exploitation,
So she was the model for our emulation.
If drunken cowboys tried stealing a kiss
Matt would step in until they called it quits.
And when we were up against really bad men,
Again we’d call Matt ‘cause we knew he would win.
Today little girls can see women in roles
Where they are the heroes and ones in control,
Not depending on men to determine their fate.
In some ways the good old days weren’t all that great.
But that’s how I grew up, and I’ll never forget
Those days with my pal playing little vignettes
Of true western justice against evil goons,
Back when I worked in the Long Branch Saloon.