"El Paso City" is a 1976 single written and recorded by Marty Robbins

Marty Robbins

Martin David Robinson , known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...

. "El Paso City" was Robbins' fifteenth number one on the U.S. country singles chart. The single stayed at number one for two weeks and spent eleven weeks on the chart.

Song background

Robbins wrote "El Paso City" while flying over El Paso, in - he reported - the same amount of time it takes to sing, four minutes and 14 seconds. It was only the second time that ever happened to him; the first time was when he composed the original El Paso as fast as he could write it down.

The song is a reworking (and indirect sequel) of Robbins' 1959 hit "El Paso

El Paso (song)

"El Paso" is a country and western ballad written and originally recorded by Marty Robbins, and first released on Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs in September 1959. It was released as a single the following month, and became a major hit on both the country and pop music charts, reaching number...

," about a gunfighter who kills another man defending his girlfriend's honor, and years later is killed by a posse. In "El Paso City," the main protagonist is a passenger on an airplane

Fixed-wing aircraft

A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...

 over El Paso and is compelled to recall the song he heard long ago ("El Paso"). He fails to recall the man who sang "El Paso," but immediately senses a supernatural

Supernatural

The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...

 connection to the story. He wonders to himself, "Could it be that I could be the cowboy in this mystery," suggesting a past life

Reincarnation

Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...

.

The arrangement of "El Paso City" includes riffs and themes from "El Paso" and the latter's immediate follow-up, "Feleena (From El Paso)."

Chart performance

Chart (1976)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1