‘James And The Cold Gun’ is a song written by Kate Bush in the first half of the Seventies and it became one of the songs performed by the KT Bush Band during their performances in the pub circuit in 1977. Brian Bath, member of the band, recalled later: “Rob got a dry ice machine from somewhere. We used that on stage for ‘James And The Cold Gun’ and it looked great. We had a bit of a show going! Kate did a costume change, she’d put on a bloomin’ Western cowgirl dress for the second set! The theatrical thing was starting to get there.”
Del Palmer recalled: “She was just brilliant, she used to wear this big long white robe with coloured ribbons on or a long black dress with big flowers in her hair. She did the whole thing with the gun and [the audience] just loved it. She’d go around shooting people.”
The song was recorded in the studio in 1977 and released on her debut album The Kick Inside. When she embarked on the Tour of Life in 1979, the live performance of ‘James And The Cold Gun’ used and enhanced elements of those original performances from 1977.
Versions
There are three officially released versions of the song: the album version and a live version, recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1979, during one of the shows of the Tour of Life. An edited version of this live version was included in the On Stage EP.
Cover versions
‘James And The Cold Gun’ was covered by Ariel, The Hounds Of Love and Yuri Kono.
Lyrics
James, come on home
You’ve been gone too long, baby
We can’t let our hero
Die alone
We miss you day and night
You left town to live by the rifle
You left us to fight
But it just ain’t right to take away the light
Remember Genie from the casino?
She’s still a-waiting in that big brass bed
The boys from your gang are knocking whisky back
‘Til they get out of hand and wish they were dead
They’re only lonely for the life that they led
With their old friend
Ooh, James, are you selling your soul to a cold gun?
Selling your soul to a
Ooh, James, are you selling your soul to a cold gun?
Where lies your heart?
It’s not there in the buckskin, baby
It’s not there in the gin
That makes you laugh long and loud
You’re a coward, James
You’re running away from humanity
You’re running away from reality
It won’t be funny when they rat-a-tat-tat you down
Remember Genie from the casino?
She’s still a-waiting in that big brass bed
The boys from your gang are knocking whisky back
‘Til they get out of hand and wish they were dead
They’re only lonely for the life that they led
With their old friend
Ooh, James, are you selling your soul to a cold gun?
Selling your soul to a
Ooh, James, are you selling your soul to a cold gun?
Credits (studio version)
Drums: Stuart Elliott
Bass: David Paton
Guitars: Ian Bairnson
Organ: Duncan Mackay
Credits (live version)
Drums: Preston Heyman
Bass: Del Palmer
Guitar: Brian Bath
Keyboards: Kevin McAlea
Synthesizer: Ben Barson
Electric guitar: Al Murphy
Backing vocals: Liz Pearson and Glenys Groves
