"(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance" is a song written by

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

and Hal David, which was released by

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...

in 1962. It spent 13 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 4, while reaching No. 2 on Canada's

CHUM Hit Parade The CHUM Chart was a ranking of top 30 (and, until August 1968, the top 50) songs on Toronto, Ontario radio station CHUM AM, from 1957 to 1986, and was the longest-running Top 40 chart in the world produced by an individual radio station. On Janua ...

, and No. 4 on New Zealand's "Lever Hit Parade". Although it was not used in the film, '' The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'', there is disagreement about whether the song had been intended to appear in it.Dominic, Serene (2003).
Burt Bacharach, Song by Song: The Ultimate Burt Bacharach Reference for Fans, Serious Record Collectors, and Music Critics
', Music Sales Group. p. 75. Retrieved October 13, 2016. Nevertheless, Pitney has stated that the recording session was paid for by Paramount, and that it was midway through the effort when he found out that the song was not going to be included in the film; one of the orchestra members told him that the movie had been released. Session drummer Gary Chester plays on the recording. The Pitney and the Jimmie Rodgers versions of the song are noted for a solo violin that plays in the upper register. Both versions are noteworthy for the chorus, where a quick half-second strike on the tympani is heard, depicting the gun shots, which go: "The man who shot Liberty Valance, (bong) He shot Liberty Valance, (bong), He was the bravest of them all". The first verse describes the outlaw's intimidating presence and ability with a gun, the second focuses on the man who comes to town prepared to defeat Valance with the law alone. Further along we learn how the law-book toting hero falls in love with a girl who, when he is forced to confront Valance, waits alone and prays, knowing that: "When two men go and face (or "fight") each other, only one returns". The song was ranked No. 36 in the Western Writers of America's list of the top 100 Western songs of all time, as compiled from a survey of its members. Jimmie Rodgers released a cover similar in form to the Gene Pitney version. The Greg Kihn Band included their take on their 1980 album '' Glass House Rock''. James Taylor recorded it for his 1985 album '' That's Why I'm Here''.

Chart performance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The 1962 songs 1962 singles Musicor Records singles Gene Pitney songs Songs about fictional male characters Songs with music by Burt Bacharach Songs with lyrics by Hal David