Born in Brooklyn, Nilsson moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to escape his family's poor financial situation. While working as a computer programmer at a bank, he grew interested in musical composition and close-harmony singing and was successful in having some of his songs recorded by various artists, such as the Monkees. In 1967, he debuted on RCA Victor with the LP Pandemonium Shadow Show, followed by a variety of releases that included a collaboration with Randy Newman (Nilsson Sings Newman, 1970) and the original children's story The Point! (1971).
He created the first remix album, Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, in 1971, and recorded the first mashup song ("You Can't Do That") in 1967. His most commercially successful album, Nilsson Schmilsson (1971), produced the international top 10 singles "Without You" and "Coconut". His other top 10 hit, "Everybody's Talkin'" (1968), was featured prominently in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. A version of Nilsson's "One," released by Three Dog Night in 1969, also reached the U.S. top 10.
During a 1968 press conference, The Beatles were asked what their favorite American group was and answered "Nilsson." Sometimes called "the American Beatle," he soon formed close friendships with John Lennon and Ringo Starr, joining them in the Hollywood Vampires drinking club. He and Lennon produced one collaborative album, Pussy Cats (1974). After 1977, Nilsson left RCA, and his record output diminished. In response to Lennon's 1980 murder, he took a hiatus from the music industry to campaign for gun control. For the rest of his life, he recorded only sporadically. In 1994, Nilsson died of a heart attack while in the midst of recording what became his last album, Losst and Founnd (2019).
The craft of Nilsson's songs and the defiant attitude he projected remain touchstones for later generations of indie rock musicians. Nilsson was voted No. 62 in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of the "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time," where he was described as "a pioneer of the Los Angeles studio sound" and "a crucial bridge" between 1960s psychedelia and the 1970s singer-songwriter era. The RIAA certified Nilsson Schmilsson and Son of Schmilsson (1972) as gold records, indicating over 500,000 units sold each. He earned two Grammy Awards (for "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Without You").
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Nilsson
Discography
Spotlight on Nilsson (1966)
Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967)
Aerial Ballet (1968)
Skidoo (1968) (soundtrack)
Harry (1969)
Nilsson Sings Newman (1970)
The Point! (1970) (studio album and soundtrack)
Nilsson Schmilsson (1971)
Son of Schmilsson (1972)
A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973)
Son of Dracula (1974) (soundtrack)
Pussy Cats (1974)
Duit on Mon Dei (1975)
Sandman (1976)
...That's the Way It Is (1976)
Knnillssonn (1977)
Flash Harry (1980)
Popeye (1980) (soundtrack)
Losst and Founnd (2019)
Little Cowboy
Harry Nilsson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You can hardly lift your head
But you wanna hear a story
Before you go to bed
So if you'll be quiet
And listen patiently
I'll sing you a song
That my mother sang to me
Little cowboy, put your saddle in the barn
Tie your horse up tight, so he'll know no harm
Put your hat and your gun
Beside you on the chair
Don't forget, you've got to say a little prayer
Little cowboy, you'd better hit the sandman trail
Or you'll be late for roundup time you know
If you wanna be a cowboy, you'd better rest a while
Little cowboy baby of the old corral
Little cowboy baby of the old corral
The song "Little Cowboy" by Harry Nilsson is a lullaby that a parent or older sibling might sing to a tired child who is slipping off to sleep. Nilsson's gentle voice takes on a calming quality as he sings of a little cowboy who needs to rest up for the next big day of roundup, a cattle drive where the cowboys carefully gather their herd from the range and move them to new grazing areas. The lyrics to "Little Cowboy" are simple and straightforward, and Nilsson's acoustic guitar provides a gentle backdrop that matches the soothing tone of the melody.
The song is structured with two verses that lovingly tell the young cowboy about the bedtime ritual he must follow. These instructions are relayed with affection and care, as if the singer knows the boy's heart and how to soothe him to sleep. The final refrain, "Little cowboy baby of the old corral," is a tender embrace, a reminder that even though the cowboy is growing older, his parents will always treasure him as their little one. It is a song that speaks to the heart of any child or adult who longs for the safety and warmth of home.
Line by Line Meaning
Little fellow you're so tired
A small child is extremely fatigued
You can hardly lift your head
The child is too exhausted to keep their head up
But you wanna hear a story
Despite being tired, the child desires to hear a tale
Before you go to bed
The child would like this story before sleeping
So if you'll be quiet
The child must stay quite in order to hear the story
And listen patiently
The child must listen attentively with patience
I'll sing you a song
The singer will sing the child a song rather than tell a story
That my mother sang to me
The artist learned the song from their mother
Little cowboy, put your saddle in the barn
The song is directed towards a young person and advises them to put away their saddle
Tie your horse up tight, so he'll know no harm
The rider should secure their horse carefully to prevent any accidents or injuries
Put your hat and your gun
The singer is instructing the listener to place their hat and gun in one spot
Beside you on the chair
Specifically, the hat and gun should be put next to the young listener on a chair
Don't forget, you've got to say a little prayer
The young person must remember to participate in a prayer before or after bed
Little cowboy, you'd better hit the sandman trail
The singer is encouraging the young listener to go to sleep
Or you'll be late for roundup time you know
The singer offers a warning to the young listener that they will be tardy for important activities
If you wanna be a cowboy, you'd better rest a while
The artist stresses the importance of rest in order to be successful in cowboy activities
Little cowboy baby of the old corral
The song is directed to an infant or young child associated with cowboy life
Little cowboy baby of the old corral
Repetition of the aforementioned line
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HARRY NILSSON, HARRY EDWARD NILSSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind