Theme for an Imaginary Western
"Theme for an Imaginary Western" is a song written by Jack Bruce and Pete Brown. The song is sometimes referred to as "Theme from an Imaginary Western." It has been performed by many artists, including Mountain, Jack Bruce, Leslie West, Colosseum, Greenslade, DC3 and Johan Asherton.
The song originally appeared on Bruce's Songs for a Tailor album in 1969. The lyrics by Pete Brown are mentioned in Brown's autobiography "White Rooms and Imaginary Westerns" (ISBN 978-1906779207) as being in reference to Bruce's erstwhile bandmates Dick Heckstall-Smith and Graham Bond of The Graham Bond Organisation.
The following year, "Theme" appeared on Mountain's Climbing! album. Mountain bassist/vocalist Felix Pappalardi, who sang the song with Mountain, had helped produce Bruce's album and brought the song to guitarist/vocalist Leslie West's attention for their album. Mountain performed the song at the Woodstock Festival in 1969; this version appeared on the Woodstock 2 album.
Podcasts:
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by Jack Bruce
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by Colosseum
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by Mountain
Theme For An Imaginary Western
by: Jack BruceWhen the wagons leave the city
For the forest, and further on
Painted wagons of the morning
Dusty roads where they have gone
Sometimes travelling through the darkness
Met the summer coming home
Fallen faces by the wayside
Looked as if they might have known
O the sun was in their eyes
And the desert that dries
In the country towns
Where the laughter sounds
O the dancing and the singing
O the music when they played
O the fires that they started
O the girls with no regret
Sometimes they found it
Sometimes they kept it
Often lost it on the way
Fought each other to possess it