10 Immersive Songs That Would Make Killer Movies

1. El Paso - Marty Robbins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIHRgisdbeY Marty Robbins is one of the most underrated figures in the history of popular music. Although Robbins' influence on country music is given a fair amount of attention, his shadow also stands over a large part of pop music. Robbins' songs have been covered by artists as diverse as the Grateful Dead and Elvis Presley, and several bands (including The Who & the Beasts Of Bourbon) have recorded songs that revere him. Robbins has even experienced a recent resurgence in popularity, due to the use of our song in question in Breaking Bad's final episode. Robbins' crowning achievement was probably his 1959 album Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs, an album that shot to no. 6 on the Billboard 20o charts, went platinum, and is currently included on the famous list 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album is Robbins' definitive statement on the story song, a genre that country music really defined. Every track on the album is a gem, but the best, and the most famous, is "El Paso." "El Paso" tells the story of a cowboy who falls in love with Feleena, a Mexican dancer who works in Rosa's Cantina, a tavern in El Paso, Texas. When a younger cowboy makes advances toward Feleena, the protagonist guns down the younger cowhand in a jealous rage. The older cowboy flees El Paso, fearing retaliation from the dead cowboy's friends. The cowboy hides in the "badlands of New Mexico" for a while, filled with fear for his life. Even more biting, however, is his love for Feleena. Said love eventually drives the cowboy back to El Paso, where he finds the dead cowboy's friends waiting for him. The cowboy is shot while riding to Rosa's Cantina, but he manages to live long enough to fall into Feleena's arms. Feleena gives the cowboy one last kiss before he dies. The story that "El Paso" tells is one that we've heard dozens of times. Curiously, however, we're willing to give westerns the benefit of the doubt in the cliche department. Maybe that's because we think of the Old West in legendary terms, and the old western tropes help stories of the era keep their larger-than-life feel. At any rate, "El Paso" is ripe for film adaptation, especially since the lyrics present a complete story. No embellishment is needed to make the story right for a film. "El Paso" would be perfect material for a melancholy Howard Hawks- or John Ford- style western film. Well, there you have it: ten story songs that deserve notice from Hollywood. What songs have we missed? Let us know below!