West Enough
A lyric which started with an AI-generated diary entry of Thomas Sullivan, a fictitious character living in Chicago in the 1800s: "Sarah said she’s been thinking of heading west, perhaps Denver or San Francisco. Chicago could never be west enough, or perhaps people are tired of cities and want more connection to nature." It also weaves in the whole cowboy myth started by Teddy Roosevelt, weaving in the idea of "heading west" as Western cultural imperialism and is a collective psychology. [Discuss the psychology of 'heading west']
Chicago was once a frontier town
Beyond the Mississippi, nothing was around
Heading west, but is it West enough?
Chicago could be never West enough
Cheyenne was a Vegas, a place to win
A place to go--you've never been before
Courage is a man that keeps on coming
If he left, he was looking for something
Down to Kansas City
For the rest of us
Out to California
Is it West enough?
Moving on
Becoming best
Who we'll be
If we're heading west?
Two men left from the eastern shore
To hear the westward sounds of a cowboy chord
Running around between the rhythms and the lines
They'll always need a bourbon--Old Fitzgerald's kind
Easterly rust in the Badlands dust
Before the bust, you'll have to rush
West to Saigon
West to Kabul
West to Ukraine
Samoa too
Down to Kansas City
For the rest of us
Out to California
Is it West enough?
Moving on
Becoming best
Who we'll be
If we're heading west?
Past the boneyards, forget the past
But then you start to run out of map
Yesterday on your right, the future on your left
While you're heading north you'll be heading west
Continental divide to the Hollywood sign
It's the everyman not the WEIRDest kind
Aristocrats posing in their chaps
Is it West enough?
Is it man enough?
Down to Kansas City
For the rest of us
Out to California
Is it West enough?
Moving on
Becoming best
Who we'll be
If we're heading west?
Copyright 2026 Lee Barry. All rights reserved.
