Mike’s Favorite Original Songs of the Decade: #99 – “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings,” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

99. “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings,” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Ah, yes. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Sneaky choice, I know. But also… how many more memorable songs out there are there than this one? You start this movie that you thought was gonna be a miniseries but instead becomes an anthology film, and then here we are with this opening segment that’s just hilarious. And then all of a sudden, after a shootout, this dude just starts singing. And it’s completely ridiculous and hilarious. But then the movie goes all in on the song, which makes the whole thing even better. The beautiful thing about this song is how completely straight the whole thing is played, even though they’re dragging one guy’s corpse out of the street as his soul floats away into heaven, singing this song. It’s incredible.