DANNY'S THEME FROM RED DESERT PENITENTIARY

James Michael Taylor

In 1984 George Sluizer, a Dutch director filmed RED DESERT PENITENTIARY in and around Sweetwater, Texas. This is the theme song of the lead character, Danny McMann. I played that role in the movie and wrote the music to the film.
Video at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V23Be8kDiSs

One day we were filming and a girl from Dallas came out to sing a song for a party scene. It was discovered that she knew only copy songs and this production didn’t have money to spend on royalties for a well-known song, I told George, the director that I had written a song for the movie. He took me and Toni Kuhn, the director of photography. aside and I sang this song for them. The rest is history… and that history is that George put my music in most of the movies he made after that. Most notably, The Vanishing, which was a Hollywood movie and he DID have the money for royalties on that one.

I made a life out of losing
All the things I call my own
I never had me a woman
Who didn’t leave me alone

I’ve found that Love is a storm cloud
Lurking in my heart
I know that I’m just an actor
Playing a part

I know I built me a prison
I know I’ve no one else to blame
I think I’ll sit here by the window
And wait for someone to whisper my name

I’ve found that Love is a storm cloud
Breaking in my heart
I know that I’m just an actor
Falling apart…

I’ve made a life out of losing
All the things I call my own
I never had me a woman
That didn’t leave me alone…