Nancy Sinatra – Bang Bang (He Shot Me Down)

Guest post by Lucy Donnelly

Although surnames are compulsory and a necessity for most mere mortals, occasionally some members of the Major Celebrity species do not feel the need to comply with this rule. I suppose the more one’s autograph is in demand, the more practical it is to keep one’s signature short and use the time saved to count one’s paychecks for appearing in nightclubs, etc. Notable examples include Madonna, Bono, Justin-Bieber’s-Hair and, of course, Cher. However, some first names are no match for certain last names. And so it is that Nancy Sinatra’s version of Cher’s ‘Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)’ is in fact the most popular and quite frankly (har har) the better one.

Daughter of – and now the pun makes sense – the great Frank Sinatra, Nancy is perhaps best known for her 1966 hit ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’‘ (and thus also responsible for providing Jessica Simpson with a short-lived career as every slobbering teenage boy’s batting incentive). She has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, she has featured in the Sopranos and, like every alcoholic’s favourite St. Patrick even has her own ‘day’ of the year (May 11 is known as ‘Nancy Sinatra Day’ according to Hollywood, FYI). Cher really did not stand a chance.

Ditching the up-tempo, Sinatra reworked the song into a slower and more understated ballad, her sultry voice carrying the tune above a simple guitar accompaniment. It sounds raw, haunting and sexy. A lone bombshell in the desert, lamenting her lost love. There is a finesse and emotion that Cher’s rendition doesn’t quite capture (Gasp!! No!! Really?! Cher?! The goddess of all things heartfelt, the human – at least most parts of her anyway – embodiment of tact?!) The song was recorded by Sinatra for her 1966 album ‘How Does That Grab You?’ and since then has been remixed and sampled by the yikes of Young Buck, Radio Slave and Audio Bullys. Perhaps more notably (and respectably) it was used to open the 2003 Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill: Vol. One.

If ever I am threatened at gunpoint, I will make them wait until this song has been played out in full from my iPhone. I think that gives me about two minutes and forty five seconds for the important parts of my life to flash before my eyes. Sadly, I think that may just be enough.

Nancy Sinatra – Bang Bang (He Shot Me Down)

(Apologies on the late post, I’d been listening to the song continuously through one earphone and kept thinking I was only getting an instrumental version – ah, old school recording)