Brilliant Writer, Beautiful Man: Sam Shepard 1943-2017

Pulitzer Prize winning author Sam Shepard has died at 73. He leaves behind two daughters, infamous women, a legacy of playwriting, and a long history of iconic film roles. There wasn’t another like him and there probably will never be. Probably his most famous movie is “Paris, Texas,” which he wrote and is a great representation of the kind of writer he was: characters who were carved out vessels, untamed women, lost men. It’s such a strange, gorgeous movie full of longing and despair.

He also co-wrote the song Brownsville Girl with Bob Dylan. If you know Dylan’s work well, you can easily spot the Shepard influence apart from it. YouTube only has the alternate version and a live version, but you have to listen to the studio track from “Knocked Out Loaded” to hear how great it is:

Well, there was this movie I seen one time
About a man riding ‘cross the desert and it starred Gregory Peck
He was shot down by a hungry kid trying to make a name for himself
The townspeople wanted to crush that kid down and string him up by the neck
Well, the marshal, now he beat that kid to a bloody pulp
As the dying gunfighter lay in the sun and gasped for his last breath
Turn him loose, let him go, let him say he outdrew me fair and square
I want him to feel what it’s like to every moment face his death
Well, I keep seeing this stuff and it just comes a-rolling in
And you know it blows right through me like a ball and chain
You know I can’t believe we’ve lived so long and are still so far apart
The memory of you keeps callin’ after me like a rollin’ train
I can still see the day that you came to me on the painted desert
In your busted down Ford and your platform heels
I could never figure out why you chose that particular place to meet
Ah, but you were right, it was perfect as I got in behind the wheel
Well, we drove that car all night into San Anton’
And we slept near the Alamo, your skin was so tender and soft
Way down in Mexico you went out to find a doctor and you never came back
I would have gone on after you but I didn’t feel like letting my head get blown off
Well, we’re drivin’ this car and the sun is comin’ up over the Rockies
Now I know she ain’t you but she’s here and she’s got that dark rhythm in her soul
But I’m too over the edge and I ain’t in the mood anymore
To remember the times when I was your only man
And she don’t want to remind me, she knows this car would go out of control
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls
Teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world
Brownsville girl, you’re my honey love
Well, we crossed the panhandle and then we headed towards Amarillo
We pulled up where Henry Porter used to live
He owned a wreckin’ lot outside of town about a mile
Ruby was in the backyard hanging clothes, she had her red hair tied back
She saw us come rolling up in a trail of dust
She said, Henry ain’t here but you can come on in, he’ll be back in a little while
Then she told us how times were tough and about how she was thinkin’ of
Bummin’ a ride back to where she started
But she changed the subject every time money came up
She said, welcome to the land of the living dead
You could tell she was so broken-hearted
She said, even the swap meets around here are getting pretty corrupt
How far are y’all going, Ruby asked us with a sigh
We’re going all the way ’til the wheels fall off and burn
‘Til the sun peels the paint and the seat covers fade and the water moccasin dies
Ruby just smiled and said, ah, you know some babies never learn
Something about that movie though, well I just can’t get it out of my head
But I can’t remember why I was in it or what part I was supposed to play
All I remember about it was Gregory Peck and the way people moved
And a lot of them seemed to be lookin’ my way
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls
Teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world
Brownsville girl, you’re my honey love
Well, they were looking for somebody with a pompadour
I was crossin’ the street when shots rang out
I didn’t know whether to duck or to run, so I ran
We got him cornered in the churchyard, I heard somebody shout
Well, you saw my picture in the Corpus Christi Tribune
Underneath it, it said, a man with no alibi
You went out on a limb to testify for me, you said I was with you
Then when I saw you break down in front of the judge and cry real tears
It was the best acting I saw anybody do
Now I’ve always been the kind of person that doesn’t like to trespass
But sometimes you just find yourself over the line
Oh if there’s an original thought out there, I could use it right now
You know, I feel pretty good, but that ain’t sayin’ much
I could feel a whole lot better
If you were just here by my side to show me how
Well, I’m standin’ in line in the rain to see a movie starring Gregory Peck
Yeah, but you know it’s not the one that I had in mind
He’s got a new one out now, I don’t even know what it’s about
But I’ll see him in anything so I’ll stand in line
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls
Teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world
Brownsville girl, you’re my honey love
You know, it’s funny how things never turn out the way you had ’em planned
The only thing we knew for sure about Henry Porter
Is that his name wasn’t Henry Porter
And you know there was somethin’ about you baby
That I liked that was always too good for this world
Just like you always said there was something about me you liked
That I left behind in the French Quarter
Strange how people who suffer together have stronger connections
Than people who are most content
I don’t have any regrets, they can talk about me plenty when I’m gone
You always said people don’t do what they believe in
They just do what’s most convenient, then they repent
And I always said, hang on to me, baby, and let’s hope that the roof stays on
There was a movie I seen one time, I think I sat through it twice
I don’t remember who I was or where I was bound
All I remember about it was it starred Gregory Peck
He wore a gun and he was shot in the back
Seems like a long time ago, long before the stars were torn down
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls
Teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world
Brownsville girl, you’re my honey love
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls
Teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world
Brownsville girl, you’re my honey love
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curls
Teeth like pearls shining like the moon above
Songwriters: Bob Dylan / Sam Shepard