Jon Bon Jovi wrote the song expressly to serve as the theme song for the 1990 Western film Young Guns II-the formulaic sequel to the already rather generic Young Guns-so what else could it really have been but clichéd? If this all sounds horribly cliched.well, it probably is. It's time for someone to go down in a blaze of glory. The other will spend his last moments on this earth in mortal agony, bleeding out in a dusty road. Both know that only one will walk away from this fight. Tthe outlaw with the heart of gold wonders if his luck has finally run out. The flinty-eyed sheriff has an itchy trigger finger.
When you listen to 'Blaze of Glory,' you can practically hear the tumbleweed blowing ominously across Main Street at high noon while rival gunslingers stare each other down under the blazing sun. These are the iconic sounds of the Old West-or at least the iconic sounds of the Old West, as imagined by Hollywood. The eerie twang of a mouth harp evokes the rustic entertainments of a wagon-train campfire.
A tinny guitar line recalls the jangling of spurs. An opening rattle of percussion echoes the menacing warning of a venomous snake. As the song proper kicks into gear after a few seconds of windblown silence, its instrumentation carries a distinct western flavor. 'Blaze of Glory' opens with the sound of a howling wind, blowing in lonesome off the high prairie.
