We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Mal Thursday and the Cheetahs - Get Outta Dallas

from Conspiracy A​-​Go​-​Go by Turn Me On, Dead Man Recordings

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Purchasable with gift card

     

about

In "Get Outta Dallas" the fictional world of the TV series Dallas collides with the real-world JFK assassination, which took place, of course, in Dallas. On his website Mal Thursday claims that he was born in Dallas on November 22, 1963, the day JFK was assassinated. He explains that "Get Outta Dallas" is a "conflation of the television program 'Dallas' and the Kennedy Assassination with Mal's childhood fantasy of saving JFK: 'Turn the motorcade around!' " He also reveals that the title is "a reference to the 1975 hard rocker 'Get Out of Denver' by the early, much better, pre-'Like a Rock' Bob Seger."

The TV show Dallas, which aired from 1978 to 1991, had its share of violence and intrigue and was for a time the most talked about television show, particularly when viewers were left wondering who shot J.R. Ewing in a season-ending cliffhanger episode. "Get Outta Dallas" suggests that intrigue was at work in the JFK assassination, as well. After Mal Thursday asserts Lyndon Johnson "ain't my kind of guy" the song transitions into distinct section that draws on Fear's song "Now Your Dead", which was the b-side of Fear's first single "I Love Livin in the City", released in 1978. "Poor Johnny got blown away/By the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CIA". This was not the conclusion of the Warren Commission, however, which stated that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the JFK assassination. As "Get Outta Dallas" laments, however, "the people believe what they read." The song goes on, "Poor Bobby wasn't even lookin'/Pretty soon he wasn't even cookin'" Where "Bobby" in the first verse refers to Bobby Ewing from the television show, in the middle section of "Get Outta Dallas" Bobby refers to Robert F. Kennedy, Attorney General in the JFK administration, who was himself assassinated when he was running for president in 1968. "Get Outta Dallas" then returns to the original theme as Mal Thursday tries one more time (unsuccessfully, of course) to warn JFK, "You drive on by/And they're gonna shoot you down to the ground." Mal Thursday's childhood fantasy goes unrealized.

According to Mal Thursday, "I wrote the song in 1988 and originally performed it with the Malarians (the American garage band, not the Spanish ska band). The version featured on the Malarians' live album 'Finished In This Town' (released 1990, reissued 2010) was later comped on the Killed By Death series." The version by Mal Thursday & The Cheetahs was recorded in 1992, but was not released until earlier this year.



Get Outta Dallas
Yeah, you're finished in this town
I'm gonna break you, Bobby
Miss Ellie ain't around
Get Outta Dallas
'Cause you're finished in your time
And Uncle Garrison
He's out doing some crimes
Get outta Dallas
Yeah, it's bound to mess up your mind
And Lyndon Johnson
He ain't my kind of guy
Get Outta Dallas
'Cause you're finished in this town
Hey prez
Turn the motorcade around
Hey!
Now you know what I like

Poor Johnny got blown away
By the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CIA
Musta been somethin' he said
But the people believe what they read

Poor Bobby wasn't even lookin'
Pretty soon he wasn't even cookin'
Well it musta been somethin' he said
and the people believe what they read
Now they're dead
Now they're dead
Dead!

Get Outta Dallas
Yeah, you're finished in this town
You drive on by
And they're gonna shoot you down to the ground
Get Outta Dallas
'Cause you're finished in this town
Hey Jack
Turn the motorcade around
Get Out!
'Cause they're gonna shoot you down
Get outta Dallas, baby
And it hurts

credits

from Conspiracy A​-​Go​-​Go, released November 1, 2013
released on It's All Going By Too Fast (recorded in 1992, released in 2013)
written by Mal Thursday, and contains elements from "Now Your Dead" by Lee Ving

license

tags

about

Turn Me On, Dead Man Recordings Washington, D.C.

Turn Me On, Dead Man is a garage/psychedelic podcast on Mixcloud. Take this, brother, may it serve you well.

contact / help

Contact Turn Me On, Dead Man Recordings

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Get Outta Dallas, you may also like: