Sorry to come in late, I must admit this song "Coward.." is one of my all time most loathed, but I do find the various interpretations and analyses above fascinating. I'm afraid that I am not a pacifist, no matter how much I admire those who are, but if I thought the song was indeed an exploration of the moral dilemma identified by Joe I would definately see it differently. Unfortunately as mentioned by BSeed I can see neither this nor irony, but a sordid justification of the use of violence as means of gaining power (the Gatlin boys) or revenge (the Coward). The moral dilemma of whether to react with violence to prevent violence on a third party is not confined to pacifists, and I supose my concern with the song is that in this case the protaganist does not fight to protect, but to exact revenge for his own loss of face. I think this analysis is bourne out by the phrase "twenty years of crawling", but could also be argued to be symptomatic of the view purveyed in many C&W songs, particularly those recorded by K Rogers, of the spouse as a chattel to be "Owned" and their loss as reflecting directly on the protaganists standing with his peer group, ie not a real man.

OH gawd, I doun arf go on at times doun I? Must be time for my dried frog pills!

Pete M