The Ballad of Arch Stanton
This one’s been percolating for a while, but the recent death of movie music maestro Ennio Morricone spurred me to finally finish it. The music has bits of three of Morricone’s pieces from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: the title theme; “The Ecstasy of Gold,” which plays as Tuco searches for the grave; and “The Trio,” which plays as the three gunslingers have their final showdown at the center of the cemetery. This song is me wondering how that showdown might look from a slightly different perspective… Words and music by Joseph Abbott My name was Arch Stanton, New Mexican bornA prospector’s life did I leadTo find a…