This brings the song past 11 minutes, which is a significant increase on the 3:47 of the studio version. That version features a 3 minute piano solo to open the song, and another long (and greatly similar) solo before the last verse. The piano is the most prominent instrument of the song, something that was made abundantly clear in the live version of the song on the Learning To Flinch live album. Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland’s Thompson gun and bought it In Ireland, in Lebanon, in Palestine and Berkeley Now it’s ten years later but he still keeps up the fight The eternal Thompson gunner still wandering through the night All of this throws a cynical twist into the song’s portrayal of a mercenary come back from the dead for justice and revenge. The final verse of the song list a number of other violent conflicts of the succeeding decade which are said to be haunted by Roland, concluding with a reference to heiress Patty Heart’s kidnapping and subsequent involvement in the Symbionese Liberation Army. Afterward, he continues “wandering through the night” like a phantom legend.
Roland becomes the phantom “headless Thompson gunner” and eventually has his revenge, when he catches Van Owen in a Mombasa bar and guns him down. Roland is betrayed and murdered by a fellow mercenary, Van Owen, who blows off his head. In the song, Roland earns a reputation as the greatest Thompson gunner, a reputation that attracts the attention of the CIA. It is, however, an excellent conception – maybe the only conception – of European mercenaries in Africa (including their assassinations by the CIA and hanging out drinking in bars). There was a war in Biafra in 19, but Biafra is in Nigeria, not the Congo, and the Ibo were fighting, not the Bantu. This is mainly a result of good storytelling, as the song is not historically nor geographically accurate. The song feels very specific about events, timelines and locations, which gives it a strong sense of believability and added intrigue. The lyrics mention a “Congo war” and the years 19, which correspond to the mercenary-led Kisangani Mutinies after the Congo Crisis. In the story of the song, Roland becomes embroiled in the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War and Congo Crisis of the 1960s. They killed to earn their living, and to help out the Congolese With their fingers on their triggers, knee deep in goreįor days and nights they battled, the Bantu to their knees Through ’66 and 7 they fought the Congo war So he set out for Biafra to join the bloody fray The deal was made in Denmark on a dark and stormy day With a Thompson gun for hire, fighting to be done Roland was a warrior from the land of the midnight sun The song starts with the line “Roland was a warrior from the Land of the Midnight Sun,” and while that phrase may have some wiggle room, all doubt is later removed with the additional line “Norway’s bravest son.” “That Son-of-a Bitch Dave Lindell blew off Roland’s (or Zevon’s) head”.įor a music page called Rocking In the Norselands if is obviously particularly noteworthy that Roland was a true Norselender – a Norwegian, in fact.
In early live versions, Zevon would occasionally transpose words e.g.
One afternoon, over many jars, Zevon and Lindell set about capturing such an adventure story in song form, and thus the song was born, and quickly made it into the live set. Zevon, typically interested in the darker side of life, was taken with the many adventurous tales Lindell would spin about his experiences. The proprietor was a piratical ex-mercenary named David Lindell.” The former mercenary had taken up running the bar after a stint working as a mercenary in Africa. He later said, “In 1974 I ran off to Spain and got a job in an Irish bar called the Dubliner, in Sitges, on the Costa Brava. The song was composed by Warren Zevon and David Lindell, and was recorded for Zevon’s third album Excitable Boy (released 18 January 1978).
WARREN ZEVON ROLAND THE HEADLESS THOMPSON GUNNER FULL
It is full of international drama, exotic locations, battles, betrayal, and – ultimately – stone cold revenge. Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner is a song steeped in classic adventure story elements – a literal ‘Boy’s Own’-adventure in rock music form.
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