Quando foi lançado “O Homem
que Matou o Facínora”, em 1962, o cantor Gene Pitney gravou uma canção com o
mesmo título do filme, música que narrava a história da morte do bandido que
seria imortalizado no cinema. A gravação de Pitney, que foi bastante executada
chegando ao hit parade, emoldura este clip
com imagens da obra-prima de John Ford.
Composta por Burt Bacharach
e com letra de Hal David, ‘(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance’ foi lançada pelo
selo Musicor e permaneceu por seis semanas entre os 20 discos mais vendidos,
segundo a revista Billboard. A melhor colocação alcançada por essa canção foi o
quarto lugar, atrás de “I Can’t Stop Loving You”, com Ray Charles (1.º), “Stranger
on the Shore”, com Acker Bilk (2.º) e “It Keeps Right on A-Hurtin’” com Johnny
Tillotson (3.º). Posteriormente ‘(The Man Who
Shot) Liberty Valance’ foi gravada por Jimmy Rodgers e James Taylor. Numa enquete entre os membros do Western Writers of
America, essa música de Bacharach-David foi votada como uma das 100 melhores
canções westerns de todos os tempos. Uma curiosidade é que o título da composição vinha com as palavras 'O homem que matou' entre parênteses, assim como havia ocorrido com a premiada 'High Noon (Do not forsake me'), de "Matar ou Morrer" (High Noon), em 1952.
Abaixo a letra
de ‘(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance’
When Liberty
Valance rode to town, the womenfolk would hide, they’d hide...
When Liberty
valance walked around, the men would step aside
‘Cause the
point of a gun was the only law that Liberty understood
When it came to
shootin’ straight and fast, he was mighty good.
From out the
East a stranger came, a law book in his hand, a man...
The kind of a
man the West would need to tame a troubled land
‘Cause the
point of a gun was the only law that Liberty understood
When it came to
shootin’ straight and fast, he was mighty good.
Many a man
would face his gun, and many a man would fall
The man who
shot Liberty Valance
He shot Liberty
Valance
He was the
bravest of them all
The love of a
girl can make a man stay on when he should go, stay on...
Just tryin’ to
build a peaceful life where love is free to grow
But the point
of a gun was the only law that Liberty understood
When the final
showdown came at last, a law book was no good.
Alone and
afraid, she prayed that he’d return that fateful night, aw, that night...
When nothin’
she said could keep her man from goin’ out to fight
From the moment
a girl gets to be full-grown, the very first thing she learns
When two men go
out to face each other, only one returns
Everyone heard
two shots ring out, one shot made Liberty fall
The man who
shot Liberty Valance
He shot Liberty Valance
He was the
bravest of them all
The man who
shot Liberty Valance
He shot Liberty Valance
He was the
bravest of them all
 |
Capa do compacto-duplo contendo '(The Man who Shot) Liberty Valance'.
Note-se que o título saiu errado na palavra Valence. |
