(The) Harvey Danger Database

Not another existential cowboy,
and no more California champagne.
Not another saddle tramp,
sick, sore, lonely and out of place,
cryin’ in his coffee ice cream, come on.

Edith cannot fix another engine,
nor paint another face on a rubber-can clown.
She takes another temp job,
but in her secret heart she rides.

Sad sweetheart of the rodeo,
not an urban legend now.
Sad sweetheart of the rodeo.

Give it a rest, give it a rest,
give it a bad night’s sleep.
Norman says that you should take a Valium
or maybe something stronger,
‘cause he doesn’t understand
how you get so excited watching The Lusty Men.

“The Marlboro Man died of cancer,
and he wasn’t a rocket scientist when he was healthy, ha ha ha.”
She took one last gulp of his soft city condescension,
and blasted off from his little launch pad to parts west.

Sad sweetheart of the rodeo,
not an urban legend now.
Sad sweetheart of the rodeo.
Lonesome Cowboy Bill, where are you?

Sean: We made a half-million dollar video. This is the classic, irrational exuberance of the music industry. There was a $10,000 photo shoot and then the $500,000 video. It felt like so much money to be spending, and we already knew from experience that making a video before the radio is playing something is like setting the money on fire. At least it was, back then, pre-YouTube. But we had a great contract, and the video budget was not fully recoupable, and blah blah blah. It's actually a good video, though.^SS

Sean: I've always felt a little guilty about the chorus of "Sad Sweetheart," given its Western theme, since not one person in the band is interested in that iconography; I had been listening to the Byrds and watching Nicholas Ray and thought there might be a girl stuck in a bad relationship and a boring job who might turn to those things for escape; I was also listening to Edith Frost's first album, Calling Over Time, a lot, and that's why I named her Edith; I really, truly love the video for this song; still don't get the intro, though.^10A