Her career peaked in the late 1960s with a string of pop music hits. Her best-known hit, These Boots Are Made for Walkin' - which popularized and made her synonymous with Go-Go boots - was written by Lee Hazlewood. These Boots... has been covered by many artists such as Geri Halliwell, Megadeth, Jessica Simpson, Lil' Kim, Little Birdy, Billy Ray Cyrus, Crispin Hellion Glover and KMFDM.
Nancy also co-starred in a number of films, including Roger Corman's The Wild Angels with Peter Fonda and Bruce Dern, and Speedway with Elvis Presley, made guest appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, and starred in a number of television specials, most notable among them the 1967 Emmy Award-winning special "Movin' with Nancy", in which she appeared with her father and his Rat Pack pals Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.. In the 1970s, she slowed down her musical activity and ceased acting in order to concentrate on being a wife and mother. She returned to the studio in 1981 to record a country album with Mel Tillis called, Mel & Nancy.
At the age of 54, she posed for Playboy in their May 1995 issue, released a new CD, One More Time, and made guest appearances on TV shows to promote the new material.
Most Recently, the song Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (originally recorded by Cher) was used on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's hit Kill Bill.
On July 28, 2006, for the film Another Gay Movie (2006), she released the song "Another Gay Sunshine Day" from the Another Gay Movie Soundtrack.
Bang Bang
Nancy Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We rode on horses made of sticks
He wore black and I wore white
He would always win the fight
Bang bang, he shot me down
Bang bang, I hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Seasons came and changed the time
When I grew up, I called him mine
He would always laugh and say
"Remember when we used to play?"
Bang bang, I shot you down
Bang bang, you hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Bang bang, I used to shoot you down
Music played and people sang
Just for me the church bells rang
Now he's gone, I don't know why
And 'til this day, sometimes I cry
He didn't even say goodbye
He didn't take the time to lie
Bang bang, he shot me down
Bang bang, I hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Bang bang, my baby shot me down
The song Bang Bang by Nancy Sinatra is a tragic story of two childhood friends who played games of cowboys and Indians with toy guns. The song describes their memories when they were young, riding on horses made of sticks and playing cowboys and Indians. The singer wore white while her best friend wore black, and he always ended up winning their games. However, as they grew up, they fell in love and started dating. The singer remembers laughing with her lover and reminiscing about their past when they used to play together.
Line by Line Meaning
I was five and he was six
Two young children who used to play together
We rode on horses made of sticks
They used their imagination and pretended to ride horses together
He wore black and I wore white
They were dressed in different colors to differentiate themselves
He would always win the fight
The boy always won the playful fights they had
Bang bang, he shot me down
The girl is pretending to get shot in the imaginary games they played
Bang bang, I hit the ground
The girl is expressing how she acted out getting shot by falling to the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
The sound effect that the girl made for getting shot
Bang bang, my baby shot me down
Reiterating the imaginary game they would play
Seasons came and changed the time
Time passed and they continued to grow up
When I grew up, I called him mine
The girl later had a romantic connection with the boy when she was older
He would always laugh and say
He would reminisce about their childhood and laugh about how they used to play together
"Remember when we used to play?"
He would bring up the memories of their past and the games they used to play
Bang bang, I shot you down
The girl is now pretending to shoot the boy in their new game
Bang bang, you hit the ground
The boy pretends to fall to the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Reiterating the sound effect from the earlier game
Bang bang, I used to shoot you down
Reiterating the earlier game they played together in their childhood
Music played and people sang
Setting the scene for a happy time in their lives
Just for me the church bells rang
The semiotics of the wedding, indicating that this was a happy occasion for the girl
Now he's gone, I don't know why
The boy is no longer in the girl's life and she doesn't understand why
And 'til this day, sometimes I cry
The girl is still affected by the loss of the boy from her life
He didn't even say goodbye
The boy left without any explanation or communication
He didn't take the time to lie
The girl believes that the boy did not deceive or mislead her, but simply left suddenly
Bang bang, he shot me down
Reiterating the earlier game they played in their childhood
Bang bang, I hit the ground
Reiterating the expression of getting shot
Bang bang, that awful sound
Reiterating the sound effect of getting shot
Bang bang, my baby shot me down
Reiterating the earlier expression of the imaginative game they played
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Sonny Bono
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind