Music Review // John Gogo "Tom Three Persons (Indian Cowboy)"

 

If you took a list of all the basic school subjects- Math, Science, History, English and Social Studies- my least favorite has always been history because I've always felt too focused on what was going on right now and into the future to be concerned with what has already happened.  However, if history was taught through song, as John Gogo does here, then I feel like a lot more people would take an interest in it.

This is a good old fashioned folk song, which is comparable with songs about Paul Bunyan and Davy Crockett.   The funny thing is, when I was a kid and didn't know better, I saw movies and heard the song for Davey Crockett but never thought he was real.   Much like Davy Crockett, Tom Three Persons, the subject of this song, is in fact real and what these lyrics tell you are a true story. This is, essentially, a short story about the life and accomplishments of Tom Three Persons.

You can obviously do your own research as well- and hopefully this song inspires that in you- but the fact that this song brings about something that I didn't know about is good.  I think a lot of times in film and television and as children before my generation, they used to play "Cowboys and Indians".  Of course now you say Native Americans but to think of them as always kind of being on opposite sides, to have them come together where a Native American was a cowboy just gives you a new insight into history.

What's funny is I'm not sure this is the type of music anyone really has a strong fandom for in the present tense because it seems like a lot of these songs are older records-- they just don't seem to make this type of storytelling folk music any more.  But I'm happy that it is here and I hope more people take note and contribute songs along these similar lines.  If nothing else, listen to to this John Gogo song because it's fun and educational.