"El Paso City" is a song written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and NASCAR racing driver. Robbins was one of the most popular and suc ...

. It was released in March 1976 as the first single and title track from the album ''El Paso City''. The song was Robbins' 15th number one on the U.S. country singles chart and his first since "

My Woman, My Woman, My Wife "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Marty Robbins. It was released in January 1970 as the first single and title track from the album '' My Woman, My Woman, My Wife''. The song was Robbin ...

" six years earlier. The single stayed at number one for two weeks and spent 11 weeks on the chart.

Background

Robbins wrote "El Paso City" while flying over

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, in - he reported - the same amount of time it takes to sing, four minutes and 14 seconds. It was only the second time that ever happened to him; the first time was when he composed the original El Paso as fast as he could write it down. The song is a reworking (and indirect sequel) of Robbins' 1959 hit "

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

," about a gunfighter who flees for his life after killing another man in a fit of jealousy, but who later returns and is himself shot dead by a posse.

Content

The song, unlike the time period of "El Paso," was set in the present day; and the singer is a passenger on an airplane over El Paso and is compelled to recall the song he heard long ago ("El Paso"). He fails to recall the man who sang "El Paso," but immediately senses a supernatural connection to the story. He wonders to himself, "Could it be that I could be the cowboy in this mystery," suggesting a past life. The arrangement of "El Paso City" includes riffs and themes from "El Paso" and its sequel, "Feleena (From El Paso)".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

The

Meat Puppets Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood (guitar/vocals), his brother Cris Kirkwood (bass guitar/vocals), and Derrick Bostrom (drums). The Kirkwood brothers ...

covered the song on their single

We Don't Exist "We Don't Exist" is the first promotional single from the Meat Puppets album '' Too High to Die''. Released in 1994, it includes two versions of "We Don’t Exist" and the Marty Robbins cover " El Paso City". The Marty Robbins cover is also rele ...

(1994).

References

1976 singles 1976 songs Marty Robbins songs Songs written by Marty Robbins Song recordings produced by Billy Sherrill Columbia Records singles {{1970s-country-song-stub