Marty Robbins – “The Strawberry Roan”: The Epic Cowboy Ballad of Man Versus Beast, and the Pride That Takes a Fall.
Ah, “The Strawberry Roan.” Now we’re riding back in time, aren’t we? This is the kind of song that used to fill the living room on a Sunday afternoon, transporting us not just to a different time, but to a different world—the sun-drenched, dusty plains of the Old West. This magnificent, sprawling narrative ballad is a crucial piece of the masterwork that is Marty Robbins’ legendary 1959 album, Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. While the smash hit “El Paso” claimed the radio airwaves and the pop charts (where the album itself soared to an impressive No. 6 on the U.S. Pop Albums chart), it’s songs like “The Strawberry Roan” that provided the soul and authenticity to the record, defining the sound of the Western genre for a generation.
Unlike a typical three-minute pop song, “The Strawberry Roan” is a full-fledged story, a slice of oral history passed down through the cowboy tradition long before records existed. The song’s origins trace back to an original poem by Curley Fletcher, published in 1915, making it a classic piece of Western folklore. When Marty Robbins recorded it, he wasn’t just singing a tune; he was preserving a piece of the American frontier spirit.
The story centers on a confident, down-on-his-luck “bronc fighter” who strolls into town with swagger and a boast: “A bronc never lived that I couldn’t fan.” He meets a rancher who challenges his pride with a horse that no one—no one—has ever been able to ride: The Strawberry Roan.
The genius of this ballad lies in its vivid, colorful description of the horse—a creature of pure, ugly defiance. The imagery is rich and humorous: “His legs are all spavined, he’s got pigeon toes / Little pig eyes and a big Roman nose.” The roan is practically a cartoon of equine nastiness, branded with a “big 44 brand,” a true outlaw among horses. This is where Marty Robbins’ warm, descriptive vocal style shines. He tells the story with the perfect blend of reverence for the cowboy tradition and a twinkling sense of humor, allowing the listener to visualize every buck, heave, and “sun-fishin’, son-of-a-gun” move the horse makes.
The deeper meaning, for those of us who appreciate the subtle lessons in these old songs, is a classic tale of humility. The cocky bronc-buster is ultimately defeated, flung high into the air and brought crashing back to reality, forced to admit his boast was empty. It’s a reminder that no matter how good you are, there’s always a force of nature—a Strawberry Roan—out there ready to take your pride down a peg. It’s a beautifully simple moral, packaged in the timeless rhythm of Western guitar and the steady beat of Bob Moore’s bass.
Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, recorded quickly in just one eight-hour session, became one of the most culturally significant country albums ever. And while the gunfighter epics grab the headlines, the trail songs like “The Strawberry Roan” anchor the album in the authentic, everyday struggles and triumphs of the working cowboy. It is a nostalgic window back to a time when music was an intimate storytelling companion. If you haven’t heard it in a while, find that version and let Marty Robbins take you back to the corral, where the cowboy’s word was his bond, and his ultimate challenge was always against nature itself.
Oldies Songs