[Joverl]

This may sound stupid, but I understand the words in the song, I just can´t "put it together". So can somebody help me and explain me, what Santa Fee is about?

Thanks
Joverl

[jess]

As you know i think : Santa Fe is a town,
Don't forget the album 'Blaze of Glory' was inpired by the movie ' Young guns 2' ; so you just have to understand this song with the words are in it ! i mean it's just a story about bandits in the wild west, one of them (jon) is telling things about the world can turned a good man bad and the opposite, and on the way to Santa Fe, where someone and something are waithing for him i presume ! he can't say if he'll still alive after this duel, and he's afraid for his spirit, he see this duel like the end, the judgement day, and he's afraid because life has make him some bad things ... ! so will he go to paradise or to the hell after what will happen in Santa Fe ??? what will be the judgement ??? well; i did my best, i hope it's a little bit better in your mind ! i don't think it's realy clear, never mind

[drum_bum]

Jess is right. This bandit is heading into Santa Fe, not really expecting to make it out alive. With this thought in mind, he's looking back on his life, thinking of all the "hearts I broke and the lives I took". He's thinking of how he went wrong in his life, that he did the things he's done and how he's ended up here. He knows that he "ain't getting into heaven", but he also knows that he's got to do what he's got to do, regardless of outcome. It is truly a beautiful and touching song that is so well-written! It takes a deeper look into the heart of a criminal and humanizes him in the process. It finds me feeling badly for this bandit but also realising that everyone must eventually pay for the things they've done, or as Jon puts it "every dog will have his day" even if it is the world that made him evil.

If you have any questions about any specific lines, let me know, and for whatever it's worth, I'll give you my interpretation on them.

[Becky]

It was inspired by a scene that was in the script, but cut out of the movie. Keifer Sutherland's character was being dragged in shackles back to Santa Fe. He'd moved to New York and become a teacher and gotten on with his life, but was constantly reminded of his old life because kids played Billy the Kid in the streets and he was in the comic books (that line was in the movie). He had to go back and face his demons and it wasn't by choice.

Jon said he specifically wrote the first three lines of the song to be as cliched as possible because cliches are like ghosts and he wanted the listener to perhaps be reminded of their own ghosts and demons that they'll have to face.

The rest of what I say about the song comes from years of studying both Jon and psychology, so take it as theory. I also think the music industry played a part in that song. As you know, Jon said he was hiding behind those characters. I can't help but feel that "it's this world that turns a killer into a hero" is a direct slap at the very industry that was killing Jon at that point. He bought into the romanticism of the dream and found out it was dirty. I think Jon was talking about himself and having become someone he didn't like and didn't recognize as himself. Those lyrics indicate a real struggle within himself, and a grappling with spirituality. He's a believer, but can he really be absoloved? It comes across as a song that came from a very dark place but still held onto hope and faith. I'll spare you the book I could write about the song and leave it at that. LOL

Becky

[Joverl]

Thanks a lot for your help guys!!

KTF
Joverl