Song Premiere: Onward, Etc., “Crazy Horse”

The Song: “Crazy Horse”
The Band: Onward, Etc., a violin-toting punk band led by Rosco Wuestewald.
Fun Fact: Their new album, Sonder On boasts cameos from former members of Social Distortion, and Flogging Molly.
Songwriter Says: Get ready for a history lesson. “I recall as a young child growing up in Eastern South Dakota my father always taught me to stand up for myself and fight for what you love,” Wuestewald explains in an e-mail. “The way of life he taught me has stood the test of time and I still live by my fathers teachings. I wanted to write a song about just that but portray it in a different way. We used to vacation out West and spend time in Custer National Park and as a boy I remembered seeing the monument of ‘Crazy Horse’ and how beautiful it was. Later in life learning the story of The Battle Of The Little Big Horn I became even more inspired by this story. Crazy Horse led his army against 700 men in the U.S. Calvary. They were fighting for what they had loved. There land, there children, there beliefs and of course there life. The encroachment led them to become “crazy” and to stand up for themselves. This battle led to what is known as ‘Custer’s Last Stand.’ The courage inside this story reminded me of my father’s words and out spilled ‘Crazy Horse.’

“I really wanted the song to have a Spaghetti Western feel so the guitar piece I wrote is more of a gallop. Almost in the sense of leading someone into battle. The verse I wanted to dynamically bring back and almost have a comparison between yourself and the enemy leading up to bringing hope to lead them into battle. I broke down the perverse to lead up to the chorus which explodes like a gun and the battle horns howl in the background. Then finally into the breakdown of ‘Take it all and burn it all’  is set to sound like the enemies motive. Then the pre-chorus is the response of ‘us.’ Ending the song with the same gallop but this time more powerful, almost a victory gallop.” Giddy up!