Sergio Leone

He came 'round here with his camera

And some of his American friends

Where the money is immortal

And the killing never ends

He set out from Cinecittà

Through the ruined streets of Rome

To shoot in Almeria

And bring the bodies home

He said, "I'll be rich or I'll be dead

I got it all here in my head"

He could see the killers' faces

And he heard the song they sang

Where he waited in the darkness

With the Viale Glorioso gang

He could see the blood approaching

And he knew what he would be

Since the days when he was first assisting

The Force of Destiny

He worked for Walsh and Wyler

With the chariot and sword

When he rode out in the desert

He was quoting Hawks and Ford

He came to see the masters

And he left with what he saw

What he stole from Kurosawa

He bequeathed to Peckinpah

From the Via Tuscolana

To the view from Miller Drive

He shot the eyes of bad men

And kept their deaths alive

With the darkness and the anguish

Of a Goya or Van Cleef

He rescued truth from beauty

And meaning from belief