Day 28: Riding into the sunset

click photo for larger version

Today ends 6 days of Elton John song photos. Again, if you are the first to post a comment with the song title and original album it appeared on, you win a free t-shirt. Please remember that if you've already won you are not eligible to win again.

As I began writing this post I realized that day 28, the 28th of August is a special day for me. It's my dad's birthday. If he were still with us, he would be 75 today. Although accidental, there is something very fitting about today's photo as a tribute to my dad. I had intended to do something else for the last day of the Elton photos, but as I'm still not feeling all that great, I went for something simple. But now I'm glad I did.

My dad was a huge fan of the western. He had all of Zane Grey's books and I can't tell you how many hours of John Wayne movies he and I watched together. It was one of the few things that we did together. Dad was never into sports, so we never went to a game together. We had polar opposite tastes on most things not the least of which was Elton John. I still remember him shaking his head when I showed him my new Elton John black-light poster.

But we never missed the opportunity to watch a good western on TV. I think "The Cowboys" was our favorite. We both avoided eye contact at the end when our hero dies. So this one's for dad and for all "the roundups and rustlers and home on the range".

Now that this one's been won I wanted to post this great Taupin lyric:

Roy Rogers

Sometimes you dream, sometimes it seems

There's nothing there at all

You just seem older than yesterday

And you're waiting for tomorrow to call
You draw to the curtain and one thing's for certain

You're cozy in your little room

The carpet's all paid for, God bless the TV

Let's go shoot a hole in the moon

And Roy Rogers is riding tonight

Returning to our silver screens

Comic book characters never grow old

Evergreen heroes whose stories were told

Oh the great sequin cowboy who sings of the plains

Of roundups and rustlers and home on the range

Turn on the T.V., shut out the lights

Roy Rogers is riding tonight

Nine o'clock mornings, five o'clock evenings

I'd liven the pace if I could

Oh I'd rather have ham in my sandwich than cheese

But complaining wouldn't do any good

Lay back in my armchair, close eyes and think clear

I can hear hoofbeats ahead

Roy and Trigger have just hit the hilltop

While the wife and the kids are in bed

And Roy Rogers is riding tonight
Returning to our silver screens
Comic book characters never grow old
Evergreen heroes whose stories were told
Oh the great sequin cowboy who sings of the plains
Of roundups and rustlers and home on the range
Turn on the T.V., shut out the lights
Roy Rogers is riding tonight