The Ballad of Zanazaz

Every blog should have it's own theme song. If you don't know, or haven't figured it out; the title for my blog is inspired by the great TV western that originally aired from 1957 thru 1963, Have Gun - Will Travel. So today I decided to rewrite The Ballad of Paladin.


The Ballad of Zanazaz

Have Dice Will Travel reads the dice bag of a man.
A GM without players in a savage land.
His fast dice for hire head's the calling wind.
A soldier for gaming is the man called Zanazaz.

Zanazaz, Zanazaz Where do you roam?
Zanazaz, Zanazaz, Far, far from home.
He travels to games wherever he must;
A 20sider of silver is his badge of trust.

There are game room legends that the players spin
Of the man with the dice,
of the GM called Zan-aaa-zaz!

Here's the orginal lyrics as written by Johnny Western. Really that's his name!

The Ballad of Paladin

Have Gun Will Travel reads the card of a man.
A knight without armor in a savage land.
His fast gun for hire head's the calling wind.
A soldier of fotune is the man called Paladin.

Paladin, Paladin Where do you roam?
Paladin, Paladin, Far, far from home.
He travels on to wherever he must;
A chess knight of silver is his badge of trust.

There are campfire legends that the plainsmen spin
Of the man with the gun,
of the man called Pa-l-l-l-l-a-din

Today while I searched for the lyrics, I discovered that Gene Roddenberry wrote several episodes of Have Gun - Will Travel. Of course if you are a science fiction fan, you know Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek. DeForest Kelley, who played Bones on Star Trek TOS, was a guest star, as well as June Lockhart from Lost In Space.

FYI, Richard Boone played Paladin, his real name was never revealed. He was a champion-for-hire. Perhaps a good idea for an adventure campaign?