Parks said that he modeled the lyrics after " El Paso " ( 1959 ) and denied a popular theory claiming that " Heroes and Villains " was a song about the Vietnam war . Though the lyrics are distinctly Western with some allusions to the American Indian genocides , then-wife Marilyn Wilson said that Brian meant the " heroes " and " villains " to represent those in his life
American Indian genocides
List of Indian massacres
Heroes and Villains