Playing Favorites, Installment # 6

Installment #6 - "Dallas" (Jimmie Dale Gilmore) - The Flatlanders (1972/1992)




Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?
Well Dallas is a jewel, oh yeah, Dallas is a beautiful sight.
And Dallas is a jungle but Dallas gives a beautiful light.
Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?

Well, Dallas is a woman who will walk on you when you're down.
But when you are up, she's the kind you want to take around.
But Dallas ain't a woman to help you get your feet on the ground.
Yes Dallas is a woman who will walk on you when you're down.

Clearly Jimmie Dale Gilmore has a wonderful love/hate relationship with the city. If the lyrics leave any doubt, listen to the song. It starts as a sort of upbeat alternate country (before there was such a thing) song, but the more you hear, the sadder – heck, almost tragic – the song gets. Then the saw starts. No, not a chainsaw, but an actual warbling saw, giving the song an otherworldly (if not underworldly) feel. By the time we get to the song's bridge, you really feel for the poor schmuck singing it:

Well, I came into Dallas with the bright lights on my mind
But I came into Dallas with a Dollar and a dime.

And the third verse leaves no doubt – Dallas is one cold, heartless dude:

Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eye
A steel and concrete soul with a warm hearted love disguise
A rich man who tends to believe in his own lies
Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes


Says writer Gilmore: "The hook line of the song occurred to me while I was actually flying into Dallas. The line just presented itself to me. I had all those mixed feelings about the city and the song just came gradually. I've never felt that I've got it down right, though. I've always been a perfectionist about that song.... I've had a strange relationship with the song. I've had periods when I wish I'd never written it, then I've rediscovered it, looking at it through different eyes."

The song (and several others) was recorded in 1972 for an album, but the record company released a promotional single of "Dallas" first. It did nothing. The album was abandoned and available only in the 8-track tape format until Rounder Records bought the rights and released it on CD in 1992, creating an immediate fan base and a huge problem: The 1992 release was warmly embraced by the alt. country crowd, yet they forgot that the music they were hearing was already twenty years old. The Flatlanders, while still around, have stylistically moved on.

They've released other discs, none of which have matched the popularity of the album which "Dallas" opens, appropriately titled More a Legend Than a Band.