“The original 1959 version of Bobby Fuller’s 1966 classic hit “I Fought the Law” as recorded by the Crickets (after Buddy Holly’s death) had the line “Robbing people with a zip gun”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6om4ssqM2lc (cool video, too)
Later versions were changed to the more politically correct “six gun”, giving it an old west flavor, and cleansing it of any connection to “juvenile delinquency”, a societal problem of the day.”
Fascinating bit of history, another example of how we have been programmed.
I would love to know who insisted on that change and what pressure was brought to bear to do it.
Interestingly, there’s another version of the song with the word “shotgun” instead of “zip gun” or “six gun”.
We’ll probably never know the reason for the change. Bobby Fuller was found dead in his car in 1966. Officially, it was said to be suicide, but some say it was a mob hit over a woman.