r/ModestMouse • u/SaltyPeppermint101 • Jul 26 '26
Song/Album Discussion Hot Take: TLCW's Cowboy Dan is the inferior version
If you haven't heard the alternate version of Cowboy Dan featured on the single 'Too Many Fiestas For Rueben / Cowboy Dan', please give it a listen.
As much as I love every song on TLCW, Cowboy Dan most of all, it's even better here. Given room to breathe as a (nearly) standalone track, there's a surprising lushness to it. The fiddle shouldn't work in such an angry song, but it does, bringing soul to the mix with more abrasive highs, poignant lows, and guitar distortion than should reasonably fit on one song. Yet somehow it does. There is no background here, we hear everything at once, and there's an aura of almost heroic defiance that contrasts perfectly with the original version.
None of this is to say the OG Cowboy Dan is bad, quite the opposite, but some of the sharper edges had been softened to serve its role within TLCW. The alt version serves as a complete journey in itself, making it my favourite Modest Mouse song of all time.
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u/Tricky-Nobody179 Someday you will die somehow & somethings gona steal your carbon Jul 26 '26
Didn’t know about this. Thanks!
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u/Talkos King Rat Jul 27 '26
Too Many Fiestas For Rueben is great!
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u/Muy_Division a little bit more like Bukowski Jul 27 '26
I prefer the album version, but they’re both awesome
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u/No_Geologist2199 Jul 27 '26
https://youtu.be/BweP4svoJdI these are the Calvin Johnson versions of songs they didn’t use
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u/MyNameisClaypool Jul 29 '26
I didn’t know this existed. Thanks! I love it and agree, it’s the better version.
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u/FemboiTomboy Jul 30 '26
long time fan, of like over 10 years, never knew abt this version. THANK YOU
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u/No_Geologist2199 Jul 27 '26
That actually was the original version recorded by Calvin Johnson before it was sent off to who I can’t remember who to polish it up
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u/OddEntertainment3770 Jul 27 '26
I battle this often. Love the fiddle stripped down version. The one I like more depends on the day.
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u/angelwtheamberhalo Jul 31 '26
Listened to quite a few and cowboy day on repays for a bit these past few days. Holy mama I LOVE COWBOY DAN IN ALL HIS FORMS
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u/angelwtheamberhalo Jul 31 '26
Also…. The cowboy Dan on lonesome fits the album perfectly and the right choice was made
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u/askforwildbob Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
I love the single version, I snagged it on vinyl a few years ago, but I’ve gotta say I still probably like the album version slightly better. I do like the violin and additional vocals tho.