"Modern Day Cowboy" is the debut single by American rock band

Tesla Tesla most commonly refers to: * Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), a Serbian-American electrical engineer and inventor * Tesla, Inc., an American electric vehicle and clean energy company, formerly Tesla Motors, Inc. * Tesla (unit) (symbol: T), the SI-d ...

, from the band's debut studio album, ''

Mechanical Resonance Mechanical resonance is the tendency of a mechanical system to respond at greater amplitude when the frequency of its oscillations matches the system's natural frequency of vibration (its '' resonance frequency'' or ''resonant frequency'') clos ...

''. The song's lyrics make references to criminals such as

Billy the Kid Henry McCarty (September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who was linked to nine murders: four for which he was solely res ...

and

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...

, until the final verse, which references Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Music video

A music video was produced for the song, which shows

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla (;"Tesla"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 10 July 1856 – 7 ...

playing films in an abandoned movie theater. Tesla shows footage of the band performing the song, along with scenes from the movies ''

High Noon ''High Noon'' is a 1952 American Western (genre), Western film produced by Stanley Kramer from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, directed by Fred Zinnemann, and starring Gary Cooper. The plot, which occurs in Real time (media), real time, centers ...

'', ''

Scarface Scarface may refer to: Gangster-related * Scarface, nickname for Al Capone (1899–1947), an American gangster and a businessman. * ''Scarface'' (novel), a novel by Armitage Trail, loosely based on Capone's rise to power ** ''Scarface'' (1932 ...

'', and ''

Dr. Strangelove ''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'' (known simply and more commonly as ''Dr. Strangelove'') is a 1964 political satire black comedy film co-written, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is loosely ...

''. The beginning of the video shows the theater marquee with the names of all three films with some letters missing, along with the name of the band.

Track listing

Charts

In popular culture

The song was featured in the video game '' Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock''. The song was also featured in the ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

'' episode "

Beyond the Mat ''Beyond the Mat'' is a 1999 American documentary film directed, written, produced and narrated by Barry W. Blaustein. The film focuses on the lives of professional wrestlers outside of the ring, primarily Mick Foley, Terry Funk, and Jake Robe ...

Personnel

* Jeff Keith – lead vocals * Frank Hannon – lead guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals * Tommy Skeoch – rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals * Brian Wheat – bass guitar * Troy Luccketta – drums

References

{{authority control 1986 songs 1987 debut singles Tesla (band) songs Geffen Records singles Songs about cowboys and cowgirls Cultural depictions of Nikola Tesla