So, we return to the music inspired by the Buffalo. Did you know that as well as the more common collective noun ‘Herd’ a group of Buffaloes can also be know an ‘Obstinancy’. They just won’t go away until we have ‘heard’ these songs.
“Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes” is a song from Fall Out Boy’s fourth studio album, Folie a Deux. Released in December 2008, the lyrics were written by Pete Wentz, while the music itself was written by Fall Out Boy. The title is a reference to the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes from The Flintstones, a men-only club of which Fred Flintstones and Barney Rubble are members. In the Japanese version of the lyric book, the intro verse is listed before the beginning of the song. This implies that it is an intro to the album as a whole, not just this song.
“Great White Buffalo” Ted Nugent makes a cogent argument in this song about the need to respect animals to ensure their survival. He explains how Native Americans used every part of the animals they killed, and buffalo thrived. When the white man came, he killed buffalo for profit, which dwindled their population. In this song, the great white buffalo is the hero, appearing to lead his herd. The lyric reflects Nugent’s reverence for nature and Native American culture. “I knew about the Trail Of Tears, I knew about Wounded Knee, I knew about the atrocities of Uncle Sam against the native peoples,” “So the accumulation of information in my life came out in those lyrics, which are more appropriate now than ever.” Recorded in June 1974, Ted Nugent is credited as the writer on this track, and he shares credit for the arrangement with with Amboy Dukes bass player Rob Grange. According to Nugent, the riff came to him while he was tuning up his guitar. They captured it on tape and quickly recorded the song, with Nugent writing the lyric on the spot.
“Genocide (The Killing Of The Buffalo)” is a song by Thin Lizzy taken from their album ‘Chinatown’ which was released in 1980. Though Phil Lynott wrote a number of songs inspired by Celtic myth and history, this one was inspired by American history, in particular the people who were on the receiving end of it. It is generally accepted nowadays that the original inhabitants of the North American continent have had a raw deal, and this is the hard rock version.
“I Cut Like a Buffalo” is the third track from the album ‘Horehound’, by the alternative rock group The Dead Weather in 2009. It was also released as the third single from the album. Jack White is the sole writer of this song. The single has two music videos, both of which were directed by Jack White. The first video was not allowed to be shown in the UK because it contains images of people choking and dancers holding knives in a threatening manner. White was forced to release the second video, which he originally intended to be a secret video for his own use, to replace the original and be shown in the United Kingdom.
“Baby Buffalo” is a track from ‘October Road ‘ the fifteenth studio album by singer-songwriter James Taylor released in 2002. The album would be Taylor’s last album of original material until Before This World in 2015. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Performance at the 45th Grammy Awards in 2003. This song is a good explanation of why people must go on to the next life. As in the chorus “Where’d you go baby buffalo? What’s become of old cotton eyed joe? Hold up, lying low, long gone come a summertime snow”. People will not be around for a long time.
