The band's lineup fluctuated significantly over their first nine years, though founding members Steven Ronald "Stevo" Jensen, guitarist Jan Nils Ackermann, and first consistent drummer Joe Escalante remained regular fixtures. Of the original members only Escalante has remained through all incarnations of the band. The current lineup of Escalante, Dave Quackenbush, Warren Fitzgerald, and Josh Freese has remained intact since 1990 and is considered by most fans to be far removed from the band's early 1980s incarnation. Since 2002 Escalante has released all of the band's albums through his Kung Fu Records label, with Fitzgerald generally producing.
Urban Struggle
The Vandals Lyrics
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The song "Urban Struggle" by The Vandals is a sarcastic take on the romanticized idea of the Wild West cowboy culture, and the modern-day trend of adopting the cowboy aesthetic in urban environments. The lyrics are from the perspective of a narrator who is obsessed with becoming a cowboy and is willing to go to great lengths, such as riding a mechanical bull at a country bar, to achieve the look and feel of being a true cowboy. The lyrics explore the discrepancies between the imagined Wild West and the reality of contemporary urban life, revealing that the singer's admiration for cowboys is ironic and deeply flawed.
The singer's desire to be a cowboy is driven in part by a nostalgia for a time and place that he has never experienced. The overarching message of the song seems to be that the idealization of the cowboy myth is a symptom of the cultural malaise of modern urban life, one that is characterized by feelings of alienation, disconnection, and a lack of authentic cultural identity. By contrast, the cowboy myth represents a kind of utopian vision of a simpler, more rugged, and more genuinely American way of life. However, the song exposes this utopian vision as being rooted in cultural misconceptions and generalizations, rather than any kind of empirical reality.
Overall, "Urban Struggle" is a tongue-in-cheek critique of the romanticization of the cowboy myth, and a commentary on the broader cultural and social anxieties of modern urban life.
Line by Line Meaning
I want to be a Cowboy
I have always wanted to be a Cowboy
I got to be a Cowboy
It is my obligation to become a Cowboy
I'm born to be a Cowboy
Being a Cowboy is in my blood
A Cowboy! Uh-huh
Yee Haw! I am excited about being a Cowboy
Tonight we're taking me fast car
I am driving my car to the Cowboy bar tonight
Were gonna go down to the Cowboy bar
I am going to the bar where Cowboys hang out
I'm gonna wait till the club is full
I will wait until the bar is crowded
and I'm gonna ride the mechanical bull
I plan to ride the fake bull in the bar
Cowboy look is the one I sought
I want to dress like a Cowboy
Can't change now cause the clothes are bought
I already bought my Cowboy clothes, so I can't change my mind
To be a true Cowboy was my fate
Being a Cowboy is my destiny
I can't help it if I was born late
Unfortunately, I was not born in the Old West
All the Cowgirls in their Stetson hats
The women in the bar are dressed like Cowgirls
and their tight fitting jeans so they don't look fat
The Cowgirls wear tight jeans to look good
We'll all be listening to the Cowboy tunes
The bar is playing Country music for us to dance to
and stomp around like a bunch of goons
We will dance like crazy people
We're all OD'd on the Olden West
We are obsessed with the Old West
seein' who's Cowboy clothes look the best
We are comparing our Cowboy outfits
I can ride that phony bull so damn good
I am really good at riding the fake bull
Sometimes I think I'm Clint Eastwood
I feel like I am a tough Cowboy like Clint Eastwood
Find out who all fights the best
I want to know who is the best fighter
We start fights with them punks at the Cuckoo's Nest
We pick fights with the punks at the bar
Those damn punks are crazy(though)
Those punks are wild and unpredictable
and meaner than a bull at a rodeo
They are even meaner than a real bull in a rodeo
You call me an Urban clone of course
Others may think I am just copying the Urban Cowboy trend
A big deal if I'm afraid to ride a horse
It is not a big deal if I don't actually ride a real horse
With a broken nose and a fucked up knee
I have physical injuries that make it difficult to participate in the Cowboy scene
Maybe this Cowboy scene just ain't for me
Perhaps being a Cowboy is not meant for me
Yee Haw
An expression of excitement and enthusiasm
Lyrics © ATMR SONGS
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