Lyr Req: Only Five Bullets in My Old Six-Shooter

Subject: Cowboy song
From: GUEST,Ducksy
Date: 19 Feb 01 - 11:08 AM

Anyone ever heard of a song with the following words.

I'm the saddest cowpuncher in this lowdown prairie
'Cos I had to say goodbye to Mona,
For there's only five bullets in my old six shooter,
For I had to say goodbye to Mona.
When she stumbled and fell at the roundup,
I knew that we had to part...

That's it folk

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cowboy song
From: Sorcha
Date: 19 Feb 01 - 02:49 PM

No luck here. Do you have an artist? or date? I tried Cowpie and Nutz.org (Olga), plus Copernic and Google. Anybody else have a go?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cowboy song
From: GUEST,Sluefoot Sue
Date: 19 Feb 01 - 02:58 PM

I looked through my cowboy song books but no luck. A song about a cowboy who had to put down his horse! Did you try cowpuncher in those engines, Sorch?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cowboy song
From: Sorcha
Date: 19 Feb 01 - 03:32 PM

Yes, and Mona, and good bye (goodbye) Mona, 5 bullets.....saddest cowpuncher (cow puncher)......I give up. I've never heard of it, either.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cowboy song
From: GUEST,ducksy
Date: 19 Feb 01 - 07:38 PM

I heard this song about 40 years ago sung by a guy named Dermot in a travelling roadshow in Co.Cork.The name of the roadshow were the McFaddens.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cowboy song
From: GUEST,epoch
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 12:14 AM

i know this doesn't help at all, but julie andrews sang a few lines of that song when she was doped up in the movie S.O.B.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cowboy song
From: Peace
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 01:17 AM

It is possible that the title of the song is "There's Only Five Bullets in My Old Six Shooter". It is on 'BOB MALLIN Sings With His Guitar' CD D 120. For more info e-mail

[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cowboy song
From: Peace
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 01:21 AM

Or

"BOB MALLIN B.A.C.M. 120 Sings With His Guitar 쳌œ CD $13.98
Another British country singer from the 30s.
BOB MALLIN: A Cowboy?s Wedding Day/ Across The Great Divide (1st Version)/ Across The Great Divide (2nd Version)/ Blue Skies Are Around The Corner/ Cowboy/ Gee Gee/ Knick Knacks On The Mantel/ Lost And Found/ My Little Buckaroo/ Nobody?s Darlin? But Mine/ On The Trail Where The Sun Hangs Low/ Prairie Romeo/ Saddle Your Blues To A Wild Mustang/ Silver On The Sage/ The First Time I Saw You/ There?s A Gold Mine In The Sky/ There?s A Ranch In The Rockies/ There?s Only Five Bullets In My Old Six Shooter/ When The Organ Played ?O Promise Me?/ When The Sun Says Goodnight To The Mountains/ With My Little Horse And Wagon"

from http://www.rootsandrhythm.com/roots/NEWSLETTER139/newsletter139_country_1.htm#BOB MALLIN

Subject: RE: Req:Cowboy song-only 5 bullets in my old 6 shooter
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 06:01 AM

Sorry to be pedantic, but only five bullets in my six shooter is a dead giveaway that it's by a "plastic cowboy" somewhere.

No "authentic cowboy" of the classic era would ever load more than 5 bullets in a six shooter, since the old single-action revolvers had no useful "safety" and it was necessary to drop the hammer on an empty cylinder to carry them with even a remote semblance of safety.

Although not actually a prevalent habit, the traditional explanation that some gunsmiths offered for having all six chambers was that the "extra" one allowed you to tuck a dollar bill in to be found when you needed a decent burial. That would have been a good idea, but the "average cowpoke" almost never had a dollar to tuck away for any purpose. (sort of like the average musician, before they all got agents?)

John

Subject: RE: Req:Cowboy song-only 5 bullets in my old 6 shooter
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 04:08 PM

Are we even sure that "Mona" was his horse and not his dance hall girl?

Or maybe this was an early song about ED (Erectile Disfunction).

If we don't get the actual words soon, one of us will come up with a new song!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Req:Cowboy song-only 5 bullets in my old 6 shooter
From: Peace
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 12:47 AM

"(Erectile Disfunction)"

" . . . come up with a new song."


No comment.

Subject: RE: Req:Cowboy song-only 5 bullets in my old 6 shooter
From: SouthernCelt
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 01:49 PM

Charley & Peace: Already on it...
SC

Subject: ADD: ED's Lament
From: SouthernCelt
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 03:39 PM

With apologies to the ladies and to GUEST, Ducksy for hi-jacking this thread:

Here's a real quickly penned parody to the song Old Paint/Leavin' Cheyenne --

ED's Lament ;-D

I used to shoot straight with a long-barreled gun
But my ammo is spent, ain't havin' no fun
My barrel's got a bend that I can't straighten out
My shootin' days are over, of that there's no doubt

Chorus
Good bye old gun, gone with the years
Good bye old gun, forever I fear
Gone with the years, boy, how I'll miss it
Good bye old gun, gone with the years

Now my eyesight's still good and I still try to aim
But I can't load my gun, don't know who to blame
Tried gettin' new bullets with a little more kick
But they ain't what's needed 'cause they're not worth a lick.

Chorus

Asked a man who is trained in the shooting arts
Can you straighten my barrel, gimme a new start?
Sorry says he, but your action is shot
Hand to hand is now the best that you've got.

Chorus

SC

Subject: RE: Req:Cowboy song-only 5 bullets in my old 6 shooter
From: Peace
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 03:42 PM

LOL

THAT IS GGRREEAATT!

Subject: RE: Req:Cowboy song-only 5 bullets in my old 6 shooter
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 05:46 PM

SC-

Now that's how to hijack a thread!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: ADD-only 5 bullets in my old 6 shooter
From: GUEST,John Ayo, Kempen, Germany.
Date: 07 Sep 09 - 04:50 PM

The full song which I learnt when I lived in India as a child went like this:

Oh I've only 5 bullets in my old six shooter because I had to say goodbye to Mona
And her old saddle's lying where the west wind's blowing in the lonely state of Arizona


We had travelled together far, in fair and stormy weather, and for many years I'd been her owner
Now I've only 5 bullets in my old six shooter because I had to say goodbye to Mona


When she stumbled and fell at the roundup I knew we had to part
And the look in her eyes that she gave me well it nearly brought my heart


Now I'm the loneliest cow puncher on the whole darn prairie from Nevada down to Arizona
and I've only 5 bullets in my old six shooter because I had to say goodbye to Mona

Subject: RE: Req:Cowboy song-only 5 bullets in my old 6 shooter
From: Peace
Date: 07 Sep 09 - 06:15 PM

The copyright is from about 1937.

Subject: RE: Req:Cowboy song-only 5 bullets in my old 6 shooter
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Feb 10 - 05:19 PM

sandie. i was just looking for the words of this song as i remember my father playing this on the gramophone in the fifties also lots of other songs like Roll along covered wagon,Roll along etc

Subject: RE: Req:Cowboy song-only 5 bullets in my old 6 shooter
From: GUEST,999
Date: 16 Feb 10 - 05:49 PM

BOB MALLIN SINGS WITH HIS GUITAR

(21 trax: Cowboy/ A Cowboy's Wedding Day/ Saddle Your Blues To A Wild Mustang/ Knick Knacks On The Mantel/ On The Trail Where The Sun Hangs Low/ Across The Great Divide (1st Version)/ Prairie Romeo/ There's Only Five Bullets In My Old Six Shooter/ Nobody's Darlin' But Mine/ When The Sun Says Goodnight To The Mountains/ Gee Gee/ When The Organ Played "O Promise Me"/ My Little Buckaroo/ With My Little Horse And Wagon/ Across The Great Divide (2nd Version)/ Lost And Found/ Silver On The Sage/ The First Time I Saw You/ There's A Ranch In The Rockies/ Blue Skies Are Around The Corner/ There's A Gold Mine In The Sky)

U.K BACM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Only Five Bullets in My Old Six-Shoot
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 10:57 AM

According to the US Catalog of Copyright Entries:

THERE'S ONLY FIVE BULLETS IN MY OLD SIX-SHOOTER,
words and music by Box, Cox, and Roberts,
published by Sun Music Pub. Co., Ltd., London;
Copyright 1937.

The British Library has the sheet music.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Only Five Bullets in My Old Six-Shooter
From: GUEST,aidan heffernan co tipperary
Date: 07 Oct 11 - 02:30 PM

I once heard the late Irish singer Willie Brady sing this song on a radio show (Ranch House Revels). I knew the words by heart. This was back in the early 1960s. Happy memories. Aidan Heffernan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Only Five Bullets in My Old Six-Shooter
From: GUEST,999
Date: 13 Sep 12 - 07:51 AM

TRIBUTE TO JAMES RILEY CAMPBELL

I'M THE SADDEST COWPUNCHER IN THIS LOWDOWN PRAIRIE,
'COS I HAD TO SAY GOODBYE TO MONA,
FOR THERE'S ONLY FIVE BULLETS IN MY OLD SIX SHOOTER,
FOR I HAD TO SAY GOODBYE TO MONA.

WHEN SHE STUMBLED AND FELL AT THE ROUNDUP,
I KNEW SHE THAT WE HAD TO PART,
BUT THE LOOK IN HER EYE THAT SHE GAVE ME,
ALMOST BROKE MY HEART.

NOW I'M THE SADDEST COWPUNCHER IN THIS LOWDOWN PRAIRIE,
'COS I HAD TO SAY GOODBYE TO MONA.


I found that with a Google of

[DOC] BURLEIGH HEADS MOWBRAY PARK

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Only Five Bullets in My Old Six-Shooter
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Jun 14 - 08:39 PM

I had it as a '78' as a youngster. The 'B' side was Prairie Romeo

Subject: Lyr Add: THERE'S ONLY FIVE BULLETS IN MY OLD SIX..
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Nov 14 - 09:36 PM

There's only five bullets in my old six shooter
cause I had to say goodbye to Mona
and her saddles are lying where the west winds sighing
on the lonely plains of Arizona

Oh we'd been together fair and stormy weather
and for many years I'd been her owner
now there's only five bullets in my old six shooter
cause I've had to say goodbye to Mona

when she stumbled and fell at the round up
I knew we'd have to part
but the look in her eyes that she gave me
nearly broke my heart

I'm the saddest cow puncher on the whole darned prairie
from Nevada down to Arizona
cause there's only five bullets in my old six shooter
cause I had to say goodbye to Mona

I used to play a record of this when I was a kid in the 1940's and cry
about Mona!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Only Five Bullets in My Old Six-Shooter
From: GUEST,George
Date: 23 Feb 15 - 07:08 AM

Thanks "Guest" I too remember most of the words from my youth,but your
thread jogged it back to life, thank you George born 1923...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Only Five Bullets in My Old Six-Shooter
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Mar 15 - 08:12 PM

There's a recording on SoundCloud by someone called Bad William.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Only Five Bullets in My Old Six-Shooter
From: GUEST,aidan heffernan
Date: 28 May 15 - 12:24 PM

thank you all for been so helpful. I found a BOB MALLEN cd with this song on it. Can't believe there are so many delightful people out there. Thanks a million folks. Aidan Heffernan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Only Five Bullets in My Old Six-Shooter
From: meself
Date: 28 May 15 - 12:41 PM

Funny, I was recently watching one of those British detective shows - Taggart? - in which some know-it-all remarked that the assailant's use of five rather than six bullets was consistent with the fact that the weapon was an old six-shooter, which would never be loaded with more than five bullets (see JohninKansas, above). In fact, that's why I started reading this post.

So, I think I'm a plastic cowboy no longer - the real thing, me - yee-haw! Giddy-up!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Only Five Bullets in My Old Six-Shooter
From: GUEST,#
Date: 08 Apr 21 - 01:15 PM

https://www.liamhinch.com/five-bullets

Lyrics there and Liam Hinch is singing the song.