Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner

In Denmark, a Thompson submachine gun-equipped Roland agrees to join the Biafran Armed Forces as a mercenary and fight in the Nigerian Civil War.

Eventually, the Central Intelligence Agency decides to assassinate Roland, and pays one of his comrades, Van Owen, to kill him on their behalf.

The headless Roland searches Africa for Van Owen, eventually finding him drinking gin in a Mombasa bar and killing him.

The song concludes by claiming that Roland played a role in the 1974 kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

Backing vocals were provided by an ad-hoc ensemble called The Gentlemen Boys, which included Zevon, Wachtel, Jackson Browne, Jorge Calderón, Kenny Edwards, and JD Souther.