Pals

Pals | Billy the Kid | Southern Rock | Outlaw Country | Historical Ballad “Pals” is our song about friendship, loyalty, and loss during one of the most turbulent chapters of the American West, the Lincoln County War! Billy the Kid has been remembered as an outlaw, gunfighter, murderer, folk hero, and legend. But behind all of those names was a young man whose life was repeatedly shaped by the people he called his friends. From John Tunstall and the Lincoln County Regulators, to Charlie Bowdre, Tom O’Folliard, and the companions who continued riding beside Billy after the Lincoln County War had ended. Our song looks beyond the wanted posters to something much more human. A Personal Note Billy the Kid has always fascinated me since I was little! My father loved Westerns, and we watched everything together, from the old singing cowboys to John Wayne and the newer Western films. Young Guns was one of the movies that first made Billy and the Lincoln County War come alive for me. The more I learned about the real history, the less interested I became in whether Billy should be called a hero or a villain. To me he was neither. He was human! He made choices. Some good, some terrible. He loved his friends, carried grudges, fought for people he believed had been wronged, crossed lines he could never uncross, and eventually became trapped inside the legend growing around his own name. “One foot in the past, the other in the stars.” 💕 🎵 Credits Written, Arranged & Produced by: Morna Rowan MacAedyn and Nina Wells Performed by: Morna MacAedyn Aponi Black Elk Ryn Nguyen Nina Wells Kai Huang Music Video: Nina Wells & Morna MacAedyn Musical Style: Southern Rock | Outlaw Country | Bluegrass | Historical Americana 📜 Historical Inspiration Our song was inspired by the people and events surrounding: John Tunstall Billy the Kid / Henry McCarty / William H. Bonney The Lincoln County Regulators Dick Brewer Doc Scurlock Charlie Bowdre Tom O’Folliard Pat Garrett The Lincoln County War The Battle of Lincoln Fort Sumner Stinking Springs The final scene also draws upon the enduring and highly disputed tradition surrounding Brushy Bill Roberts, who claimed many decades later that he was Billy the Kid and sought to obtain a pardon before his death. We do not present that claim as established or factual history. But like so many stories of the Old West, he has become part of the legend. 🎞️ Historical Imagery & Visual Production Our music video incorporates historical photographs, illustrations, period imagery, and visual references connected with Billy the Kid, the Regulators, Lincoln County, and the people surrounding their story. Many original historical images were restored, enhanced, colorized, reframed, or artistically reinterpreted using ChatGPT image generation and Grok Imagine, then animated and incorporated into the finished video. Several photographs traditionally attributed to Billy the Kid or members of the Regulators remain historically disputed or unverified. Their inclusion in the video should not be interpreted as authentication of those identifications. The visual treatment was designed to create the feeling of an old Western graphic novel coming to life while preserving the historical character of the original material. All sequencing, historical research, narrative structure, visual selection, editing, animation choices, timing, and final video production were created by Morna Rowan MacAedyn. © 2026 Morna Rowan MacAedyn 🔔 Follow Morna Rowan MacAedyn YouTube: @MornaMacAedyn Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/MornaMacAedyn X: https://x.com/MornaMacAedyn ☕ Support our music: https://ko-fi.com/mornamacaedyn #BillyTheKid #Pals #OutlawCountry #HistoricalMusic #MornaMacAedyn