Spanish walk

March 28th, 2011 by admin

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Posted in columns, March 2011 | 5 comments

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5 comments on this post.

  1. Alex:

    March 31st, 2011 at 8:22 am

    Have you considered the possibility that it is the other way around and that the stiff legged gait of prisoners made to “walk Spanish” inspired the name for the style of dressage?

  2. h.s. gudnason:

    April 6th, 2011 at 7:01 am

    @Alex I think that the term in dressage is part and parcel of the elaborate court ceremonies that started in Burgundy in the fifteeenth century and passed from there to Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, and the Habsburg court in Vienna. The Spanish Riding School in Vienna dates back to the sixteenth century.

  3. Topi Linkala:

    July 3rd, 2011 at 3:45 pm

    Sorry to inform you Mr. Evans, but as much I like Tom Waits, the more I like Van Morrison.

  4. Big DD:

    September 9th, 2011 at 7:23 pm

    Cool song and groove. Obscure lyrics. Jeff Bridges played an ex-con in American Heart, ca. early 90s. In one scene, he heatedly tells his son how his parole officer is making him walk Spanish. After that I assumed it was just prison slang for staying straight.

  5. Sparrow:

    February 16th, 2013 at 4:28 am

    It is said that walking Spanish was what pirates called walking the plank i.e. walking unwillingly towards something. In that case – death. Interesting theory about walking with straight legs. Would I be correct in thinking that condemned people would probably be wearing shackles (in America, chains linking hands and feet) so would be forced to shuffle with a straight legged gait? Great song – one of my favorite songs by my favourite singer.

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