This song contains subject matter that may not be suitable for all readers as it deals with the topic of self harm/suicide.
At the end of chapter thirty-nine of the 1882 book 33 Years Among Our Wild Indians, Richard Irving Dodge described a grizzly scene from his time in the United States Army. From October 10th to October 30th of 1855, Dodge escorted and protected a group of privates and officers in Fort Davis, Texas. Included in the group was Sam Cherry, a guide who was navigating the land in search of wood. On the night of the 30th, Dodge reported to a colonel and asked if he would be needed for Muster Day (a day of enrollment). The colonel, having forgotten about the event, told Dodge to assign someone else to guard Cherry’s group — that being one Sgt. Love. On the morning of October 31st however, Love, Cherry and the rest did not return to the fort. An investigation began after a report of a dead body; and what they found was Sam Cherry dead, pinned under his horse. Sgt. Love and the rest of the group were found later, mutilated and killed. They came to a conclusion later that day: while traveling they were ambushed by Native Americans. Sam Cherry managed to break through their blockade, but his horse fell and broke its neck, holding Cherry in place as they advanced. Grabbing his gun, he fired at them five times before pointing the barrel of his gun at his forehead and pulling the trigger, shocking his pursuers who then ran off. The title of this section of the book? “Sam Cherry’s Last Shot.”
This passage was recited on the 12 Bar Bruise song of the same name. By far the most unique track on the album, it’s an Ennio Morricone-like rock song narrated by Carson/Dingoes member and father of Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Broderick Smith. It was his first appearance in the band’s discography, and laid the foundation for the band’s second album Eyes Like the Sky, another piece of American western writing. It’s also the first moment Gizzard has ever confronted the topic of colonialism, a practice that would be criticized both within the band’s discography and outside of it.
“Sam Cherry’s Last Shot” was originally an instrumental before the addition of narration. According to Stu, they had originally thought of using a section of Cormac McCarthy’s 1985 classic Blood Meridian. Joey was reading it at the time (as part of his “Nick Cave” phase) and was inspired by a clip of someone reading from it on Youtube. When Broderick Smith got involved he suggested 33 Years Among Our Wild Indians instead. The song was first heard when it was released as the b-side of “Bloody Ripper” on April 3rd, 2012. It would later be released as part of the band’s debut album 12 Bar Bruise on September 7th, 2012.
On May 14th, 2012, a music video for the song by Zonkvision was released. It features clips of the 1967 film Death Rides a Horse with oil projections and analog video on top of it. According to a Mess+Noise article, this video, as well as “Bloody Ripper,” were both edited in a few hours.
The earliest performance of the song was on 2012-07-20 at The Bridge Hotel in Castlemaine. In this performance, Broderick starts earlier than the studio version (leading with the line “from about the 10th to the 30th, I had thus been out, taking a different route each day”) and continues reading past the end of the chapter. One other performance is known, that being on 2013-04-19 at the Astor Theatre in Perth, although it’s unclear if this was played with Broderick Smith or any narration.