"Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" is a song composed by

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer and songwriter. His most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money" and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". All t ...

and David Lindell and performed by Zevon. It was included on Zevon's 1978 album ''

Excitable Boy ''Excitable Boy'' is the third studio album by American musician Warren Zevon. The album was released on January 18, 1978, by Asylum Records. It includes the single " Werewolves of London", which reached No. 21 and remained in the American Top 40 ...

'', and while never released as a single became a fan favorite. It was the last song he performed in front of an audience, during an October 2002 appearance on '' The Late Show with David Letterman'', before his death in 2003.

About the song

In 1973, American musician

met David Lindell in

Sitges ; , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, renowned worldwide for Sitges Film Festival, its film festival, Carnival, and LGBTQ culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is know ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, where Lindell operated a bar named "The Dubliner" after working as a

mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...

in Africa. Inspired by Lindell's stories of his career as a mercenary, Zevon decided to collaborate with him in making a song about a left-wing mercenary. The resulting song Zevon and Lindell produced, "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" describes the life of fictional Norwegian mercenary Roland. In Denmark, a

Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy gun", "Chicago typewriter", or "trench broom") is a blowback-operated, selective-fire submachine gun, invented and developed by Brigadier General John T. Thompson, a United States Arm ...

-equipped Roland agrees to join the Biafran Armed Forces as a mercenary and fight in the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a Secession, secessionist state which had declared its independen ...

. Roland then decides to leave for the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, where he joins the Congolese military and fights against "the Bantu". Eventually, the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

decides to assassinate Roland, and pays one of his comrades, Van Owen, to kill him on their behalf. Van Owen shoots him in the head and he becomes a vengeful ghost. His comrades still see "his headless body stalking through the night". The headless Roland searches Africa for Van Owen, eventually finding him drinking

gin Gin () is a distilled alcoholic drink flavoured with juniper berries and other botanical ingredients. Gin originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists across Europe. The modern gin was modified in Flanders and the Netherlands ...

in a

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

bar and killing him. After killing Van Owen, Roland continues to work as a mercenary in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, and Berkeley. The song concludes by claiming that Roland played a role in the 1974 kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Musicians on the track were Zevon (vocals, piano, organ); Waddy Wachtel (guitar);

Bob Glaub Bob Glaub (born May 10, 1952)Hageman, William (April 29, 2005)."The aces of bass: Five giants of an overshadowed instrument", Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. is an American bass player and session musician. He has played with such artists an ...

(bass guitar); and Russell Kunkel (drums). Backing vocals were provided by an ad-hoc ensemble called The Gentlemen Boys, which included Zevon, Wachtel,

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...

Jorge Calderón Jorge Calderón, originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer best known for his collaborations with Warren Zevon and Buckingham Nicks. Calderón sings, and also plays guitar, bass ...

, Kenny Edwards, and JD Souther.

Film reference

The song is a favorite of screenwriter

David Koepp David Koepp (; born June 9, 1963) is an American screenwriter and director. He is the fourth most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.6 billion. Koepp has achieved both critical ...

. He named the big-game hunter in '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' "Roland Tembo" as a reference to the song, and then "thought it would be fun to make his nemesis' last name Van Owen, like in the song", thus leading to the name of one of the protagonists being Nick Van Owen.

References

External links

* {{1970s-rock-song-stub 1978 songs Cold War fiction Fictional characters introduced in 1978 Fictional characters invented for recorded music Fictional assassins Fictional ghosts Fictional gunfighters Fictional mercenaries Fictional murdered people Fictional Norwegian people Fictional soldiers Fictional war veterans Fictional zombies Songs about fictional male characters Songs about revenge Songs about soldiers Songs written by Warren Zevon Warren Zevon songs

About the song

Film reference

See also

References

External links