Cowboys From Hell 1990 - Pantera

COWBOYS FROM HELL 1990

Info/Purchase Cowboys From Hell:

-Released: 7/24/90 -Label: Elektra -gold certification: 9/14/93 -platinum certification: 7/16/97 -All songs written and arranged by Pantera -All songs published by Power Metal Music/Cota Music, BMI -Administered by Warner Tamerlane Music Publishing -Produced and Engineered by Terry Date -co-produced by Pantera -Recorded at Pantego Sound Studio, Pantego, Texas -Mixed by Pantera and terry date at The Carriage House, Stamford, CT -Assistant Manager: Matt Lane -A&R: Mark Ross -Mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk, New York City -Art Direction: Bob Defrin -Live photos: Joe Giron -Front cover background photo: Bettman Archive -All lyrics © 1990 Power Metal Music/Cota

Darrell on Cowboys From Hell (Guitar World 02/98): “I’d have to say this was a big fuckin’ unbelievable thing that happened to us. We finally got a [major label] record deal. I knew we’d found our style, and I knew we found our direction and just who we were. It took us a long time but I’m glad it didn’t happen any sooner.”

Rex on Cowboys From Hell (Guitar World 7/24) “Vinnie would lay down all the drums, then Dime would play guitar. We’d put the bass on last. We turned all the drum channels off, and I just played along with Dime’s track. That became known as “the microscope.” If something was off, we’d get a razorblade and cut and splice the tape. We didn’t have Pro Tools back then. And that’s what created our trademark sound, where the guitar and bass are just spot-on. One day, Dime came in with this tape loop of a lick he played over and over in a high register. It drove us crazy, because he wouldn’t stop playing it. That’s what became “Cowboys from Hell,” and it was the start of the power groove every band follows today.”

COWBOYS FROM HELL 1990

LYRICS:

1. COWBOYS FROM HELL Under the lights where we stand tall Nobody touches us at all Showdown, shootout, spread fear within, without We’re gonna take what’s ours to have Spread the word throughout the land They say the bad guys wear black We’re tagged and can’t turn back

You see us comin’ And you all together run for cover We’re taking over this town

Here we come reach for your gun And you better listen well my friend, you see It’s a pistol is down below aimed at you We’re the cowboys from hell.

Aimed at you we’re the cowboys from hell Deed is done again, we’ve won Ain’t talking no tall tales friend ‘Cause high noon, your doom Comin’ for you we’re the cowboys from hell

Pillage the village, trash the scene But better not take it out on me ‘Cause a ghost town is found Where your city used to be So out of the darkness and into the light Sparks fly everywhere in sight From my double barrel, 12 gauge, Can’t lock me in your cage

You see us comin’ And you all together run for cover We’re taking over this town

Here we come reach for your gun And you better listen well my friend, you see It’s a pistol is down below aimed at you We’re the cowboys from hell. Deed is done again, we’ve won Ain’t talking no tall tales friend ‘Cause high noon, your doom Comin’ for you we’re the cowboys from hell

2. Primal Concrete Sledge There’s a double standard for the way we live If there’s nothing to have, well then there’s nothing to save I’ll break a sweat and I don’t regret What you’d kill to see brings out the god in me.

Come and be with me Live my twisted dream Pro devoted pledge Time for primal concrete sledge

The man of a thousand retirements Will always be the one to tell you when to quit I won’t take stock in a withered man I’m reaching into you, I’ll make you understand

Come and be with me Live my twisted dream Pro devoted pledge Time for primal concrete sledge

3. Psycho Holiday Empty and sweating Head lying in your hands Shaking in the corner Done too much alcohol Gotta get away from it all ‘Cause it feels my blood is freezing My self insanity has taken its toll Frustration has taken its control

Now I’m far from home Spending time alone It’s time to set my demons free Been put to the test My mind laid to rest I’m on a psycho holiday

Shot down on sight You are the target of attention One woman here another there You can’t please all the people all the time Can’t tell the strangers From the friends you know Frustration has taken it’s control

Now you’re far from home Spending time alone It’s time to set your demons free Been put through the test Your mind laid to rest You’re on a psycho holiday

I’m strapped in for life Is this where I lived Or where I died You want my money You take my space My mind is telling me To leave this place My self insanity has taken its toll Frustration has taken its control

Now you’re far from home Spending time alone It’s time to set your demons free Been put through the test Your mind laid to rest You’re on a psycho holiday

3.Heresy Here we are In a world of corruption Human nature is Of violent Breed Who cares if there’s no tomorrow When I die for my future’s Laid out for me Can’t you see? Rise above the lies Morals on a backwards globe A sin to you For me it’s hope.

It’s my life and provision Black or white Some pay to pray You question why they Act this way It’s their fucking decision

No more judgement day Only tranquility Peace signs, protest lines Mean nothing to me

Honesty born in me Heresy

I know what’s right or wrong And my belief is stronger Than your advice People, they go to war Because religion gives them Reason to fight Sacrifice, die for pride A group that caters No one’s fees Or synthetic deities Is where I belong My stand is the human race Without a label or a face So they can lick my sack

No more judgement day Only tranquility Peace signs, protest lines Mean nothing to me

Honesty born in me Heresy

5. Cemetery Gates Reverend reverend is this some conspiracy? Crucified for no sins An image beneath me Whats within our plans for life It all seems so unreal I’m a man cut in half in this world Left in my misery…

The reverend he turned to me Without a tear in his eyes It’s nothing new for him to see I didn’t ask him why I will remember The love our souls had Sworn to make Now I watch the falling rain All my mind can see Now is your (face)

Well I guess You took my youth I gave it all away Like the birth of a New-found joy This love would end in rage And when she died I couldn’t cry The pride within my soul You left me incomplete All alone as the Memories now unfold.

Believe the word I will unlock my door And pass the Cemetery gates

Sometimes when I’m alone I wonder aloud If you’re watching over me Some place far abound I must reverse my life I can’t live in the past Then set my soul free Belong to me at last

Through all those Complex years I thought I was alone I didn’t care to look around And make this world my own And when she died I should’ve cried and spared myself some pain… Left me incomplete All alone as the memories still remain

The way we were The chance to save my soul And my concern is now in vain Believe the word I will unlock my door And pass the cemetery gates

6. Domination Agony is the price That you’ll pay in the end Domination consumes you Then calls you a friend It’s a twisted fall Binds are like steel And manipulates the will to be And it’s hard to see How soon we forget When there’s nothing else Left to destroy It’s a useless ploy

Your eyes will see The dawn of the day And the writing On the wall Those words that stare Into your soul And to yourself You will befall

It’s domination pushed into living hell Domination a now blacked heart Is reaching out divinity Body suspended by chains over razors And nails it’s a penalty Each razor a vice and each nail Marks the demise of you life. Grim construction grows Has life played a trick Sealed you in brick by brick Till your end forcing you to bend

Your eyes will see The dawn of the day And the writing On the wall Those words that stare Into your soul And to yourself You will befall

It’s domination pushed into living hell Domination a now blacked heart Is reaching out divinity Body suspended by chains over razors And nails it’s a penalty Each razor a vice and each nail Marks the demise of you life. Grim construction grows Has life played a trick Sealed you in brick by brick Till your end forcing you to bend

7. Shattered It’s storming broken glass, corpses left in piles Ungracious bludgeonmnet that breaks the earth for miles Nothing can stop it, the day has come, from below it’s catastrophic

Freezing, there’s no healing families are dying

This world is shattered… all shattered

Life crushing turbulence, this wrath can’t be denied Wishing you could help your friends, standing where they died Echoes haunting, a hollow planet, lacerations, dissected nation

Freezing, there’s no healing everyone is dying

This world is shattered… all shattered

8. Clash With Reality Sometimes I know I feel untouchable Drowning in life Caught up in the accessible Back down the ground I hear the sound there’s no escape The concrete cloud Spilling on me Drenching me with Laymen’s sins I hear the sirens From the back of me I’m crashing face first Into the glass eye

Clash with reality It rears it’s ugly head Clash with reality The indescribable Let the dogs lie Where we sleep Irrelevant theme

A situation and there’s Nothing but right In kicks the door Nobody moves ‘Cause in walks the problem Dictates your fate Evicts, convicts Who’ll sign the writ of life? This now becomes Their morbid game Who’s piss poor excuse Is this for a world? It swells my hatred Day by day

Clash with reality It rears it’s ugly head Clash with reality The indescribable Let the dogs lie Where we sleep Irrelevant theme

9. Medicine Man Many distant miles away Past the shores of ever dark There stays a magic man Who bears an evil mark He helps all concerned Those who come again return Injecting lies while fires burn The devil’s heart With angel’s words Have you wondered What heaven’s like? He can show you in one night Overwhelming with euphoric lift To lure you to steal your gift

Intoxication Seeping down to the bone And there’s no question Where you have to go

Understand just take his hand He’s the medicine man

Once proud and fearless men With desire in their eyes Lost strong and fruitful lives To self-indulgent ties Their souls were dipped in venom And put into a box Then placed upon a crowded shelf Where countless souls now rot Have you ever wondered what hell’s like? He can take you there Just one taste and you’ll be back And by the high you’ll swear

Intoxication Seeping down to the bone And there’s no question Where you have to go

Understand just take his hand He’s the medicine man

10. Message In Blood There’s a place that I keep deep inside me It can trigger my mind All along I knew it has been with me Since I was just a child

I just summon power within my soul It has given me life, beyond life I take Blame for my murderous problem my signature Always reminds

It’s a message in blood It’s your cryptic warning Within the message in blood Marks the years of pain, And your godforsaken ending to life

I’m provoked into sick confrontations, brutal Time after time, bed of nails, suffocation, life’s ending, slay in different designs One mans misery is another mans mystery No one cares to understand my Demented means Sticks and stones can break all your brittle bones, epitaph written at your feet

It’s a message in blood It’s your cryptic warning Within the message in blood Marks the years of pain, And your godforsaken ending to life

11. The Sleep Understanding what has Happened before us We are confined to a Darkened hidden tomb The conquering of our world As we knew it Rise above this pit Of sorrow and pain Among the few We are the avant leaders We’ve got to live Through this trouble and decay

This question haunts my mind Will we survive this night? We’re harboring the meek Will we survive the sleep?

Unsure and scared We are planning our reprise Revolves around this world We don’t know anymore The odds against us Yet we’re stronger and prevailing Learn from mistakes Counting souls for sale

This question haunts my mind Will we survive this night? We’re harboring the meek Will we survive the sleep?

12. The Art Of Shredding Unity is a rare thing Blind eyes of society bring The category of minority Now what are we supposed to be? Born free to be Powerless to change the world With our lives in the hands of madmen

Now in times when society needs us This is where the sin begins We’re aware they’re going to free us Rage from our hearts within Born of this world Which is a living hell But we’ll be closer to heaven

So now, this is the art To shred… it’s only emotion

-Revolvermag.com: Pantera’s Phil Anselmo, Rex Brown, and Vinnie Paul look back on the making of ‘Cowboys From Hell’.

-Revolvermag.com: Rob Halford, Cristina Scabbia, and Morbid Angel’s David Vincent Pick Their Favorite Songs off Pantera’s ‘Cowboys from Hell’.