Talk:Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner

message: There is nothing in the song that indicates that Roland is specifically from Norway, its just as probable that he is from Sweden. Check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_the_midnight_sun
:Actually, the song mentions him being "Norway's bravest son." --Musicnaut 10:40, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Land of the midnight Sun

message: The paragraph about mercenaries toward the end seems a bit of a digression - one which I'm happy to contribute to on this page. ;-)  Perhaps some note ought to be taken of some of the "contractors" employed in Iraq.  --Davecampbell 23:46, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Mercenaries

message: I think the article describes the song as far too heroic in nature. I'm pretty sure the meaning of the song is actually pretty sarcastic on a lot of levels - Roland is actually a pretty despicable figure, which I think is the actual point of the song. Think of the last few lyrics:
Roland the headless Thompson gunner...
The eternal Thompson gunner
still wandering through the night
Now it's ten years later but he still keeps up the fight
In Ireland, in Lebanon, in Palestine and Berkeley
Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's Thompson gun and bought it 
I think the article should be edited to make the ambiguous and often sarcastic nature of the song more obvious. Thoughts?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.177.41.209 (talk) 16:59, 25 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Also perhaps a reference to the Hearst Millions (billions?)? Why not? Carptrash (talk) 02:14, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

text: Or perhaps "bought it" means "accepted it" or "bought [into] it." The reference to each of those hotspots is symbolizing the decent of struggle into violence (since Roland was a merchant of violence). So I see it as a cynical reference to Hearst implying that she was a willing participant in the violence. Jockm (talk) 00:57, 18 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Sarcasm 

message: David Lindley may be a musician, but David Lindell was a mercenary. I removed:
"Zevon met co-writer Lindley in Los Angeles where Lindley often collaborated with Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Leonard Cohen and other folk rock and alt rock musicians. David Lindley and his band El Rayo X recorded and performed several Zevon covers including lawyers guns and money and werewolves of London. If Mr. Zevon portrayed David as an ex-mercenary he was yanking someone's chain. David lindley was one of many fellow musicians playing with Warren onhis final public performance." Pustelnik (talk) 01:41, 1 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Wrong David

message: I believe that Zevon borrowed most of this song from an Army cadence that I know was in use in '73. He added the last verse, but the rest of the words are identical. I've heard, but can't be certain that Roland and Van Owen were real men, but the story fits the Headless Horseman and Song of Roland mold pretty well, too.
Drgn31 (talk) 16:40, 22 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Army cadence

message: It is not exactly a revelation that Zevon performed the song on Letterman "before his death in 2003." Most performers do not perform after their deaths so this is not a bolt from the blue. Perhaps "shortly before his death" would be better? 24.22.166.163 (talk) 15:16, 1 February 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, feel free to change that, if you like. ---RepublicanJacobiteThe'FortyFive' 05:47, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Regarding the Introduction

message: It's interesting that the lyrics say he "blew Van Owen's body / From there to Johannesburg." Given that Zevon specifies "blew his body," there seems to be an implication that he may not have blown the head. Did Roland keep the head to replace the one Van Owen shot off?
Wild-ass speculation, I know. Anyone heard of this elsewhere, perhaps in a reliable source?
*Septegram*Talk*Contributions* 22:21, 25 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Revenge 

message: There is no such thing as the neblinunglied!
ES 213.49.239.139 (talk) 13:56, 21 May 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Nibelungenlied