I’m looking for a country western song I heard a long time ago, I hope someone can help.
As I heard it, the song was inspired by someone who said all C&W songs must have certain elements, including getting drunk, your mother, a pickup truck, prison, etc etc. So as I recall it, the lyrics begin:
“I was drunk the day my momma got out of prison…”
Anyone know this song?
You are looking for “You never even called me by my name” by David Allan Coe. Curiously, I can’t find the song on his website.
There it is. Go to “discography” and choose “Greatest Hits.” You can download the mp3 from there.
IIRC, it’s Johnny Paycheck’s version of a Steve Goodman song, “You Never Even Call Me by my Name”. The last verse goes:
Well, I was drunk the day my ma got out of prison.
And I went to pick her up in the raaaaaaiiiiiinnnnn.
But before I could get to the station in my pickuuuuuuup truck,
She got runned over by a damned ol’ train.
Oops, I see Manhattan has already responded. Actually I think he’s right. It was David Allen Coe, not Johnny Paycheck.
Man, how wierd. When I saw the title of the OP, *You Never Even Called Me By My Name" popped right into my head. Then to my surprise, Chas is asking about that particular song. Wow.
OK, thanks guys. You will probably hate me, but I was looking for a good C&W song to turn into a punk cover. I tried this song in several different arrangements, but it appears that you just can’t satirize a satire.
As an alternative, can anybody suggest a really good C&W song that would make a good punk song with a little rearrangement? Hopefully it will have a little bit of bite against C&W in general, once converted to a new genre?
Look to Johnny Cash. He’s pretty punk himself.
There’s Reba McEntire’s over-the-top “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”:
“That’s The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia
That’s The Night That They Hung An Innocent Man
Don’t Trust Your Soul To No Back Woods Southern Lawyer
Cause The Judge In The Town’s Got Bloodstains On His Hand”
Unfortunately I could only find the lyrics at this eminently unreadable site: http://www.relia.net/~smiths/heart.html
but it is a really dramatic piece that could be easily parodied.
Since the thrust of the thread has changed, I’ll move it over to IMHO.
The song you want, though, is Okie from Muskogee by Merle Haggard. Just make sure it hasn’t already been punkified. I know the Dead did a version of it on tour.
:: insert twilight Zone theme ::
I was just at the thread about drinking songs, and this same song (You Never Call Me by My Name) popped into my head. They were all talking about Irish pub songs, but being a Texas gal, I had to mention a drinking song of my youth. Imagine my surprise when I open this thread. Truly “very vaguely creepy”.
:: end Twilight Zone theme ::
Another song you might parody could be George Jones’ “He Quit Lovin’ Her Today.”
{b]Gigi** I thought Vicky Lawrence of Carol Burnett (and Mama’s Family) fame did “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”? (I’ve been known to be wrong, but don’t tell anybody!)
Did you know that punk icon GG Allin used to do a kick-ass cover of the Hank Williams Jr. song “Family Tradition”?
Why not check out some Hank Williams Jr. stuff. “Don’t Give Us A Reason” is a funny pro-war Reagan-era song that would probably make a great punk cover.
I have to second the Johnny Cash recommendation. I mean, my non-existant gods, have you HEARD the Social Distortion cover of “Ring of Fire”?! Impressive.
I think, if it hasn’t been done already, “Folsum Prison Blues” would be the easiest and most effective song to punk-ify. Barring that, try “Delia’s Gone”.
PS: Vicki Lawrence recorded “The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia” originally, and it was pretty good. Reba M.'s cover is among the worst versions of any song ever, IMHO.
I myself have often commented that if you listen through the electronic noise and distortion, the work of Trent Reznor sounds suspiciously like bluegrass. Imagine, if you will, in a southern accent:
Well, I’m the one with out a soul
I’m the one with this big fucking hole
[banjo]Twang-twa twang twang, twang-twa twang twang[/banjo]
No new tale to tell
Twenty-six years on my way to hell
[banjo]Twang-twa twang twang, twang-twa twang twang[/banjo]
Now imagine this song with the electronic noise and distortion added, sung with Reznor’s nasal whiney intensity:
It takes a worried, worried man
To sing a worried, worried song
And I’ve been worried
But I won’t be worried long
Maybe not quite punk, but the Rhino Records album Devotees (a compilation of various Devo impersonators) includes “Okie from Muskogee” done in the same style as Devo’s version of “Satisfaction”.
Umm, Chas, Johnny Paycheck’s Take This Job and Shove It is ripe fer the pickin’.
Also, John Anderson’s Chicken Truck would be right fun.
What I’d really like to see is a tear-down version of Tammy Wynette’s Stand By Your Man.
For some inspiration, check out Charlie Feathers, Junior Brown, Doug Sahm, Southern Culture on the Skids, and, most importantly, the Bad Livers.
Not quite the style you were looking for but I always though the theme from “Sesame Street” would be wonderful, punkified. Plus, everyone will already know the words…
IIRC, there was an “answer song” to Okie from Muskogee to the effect that the singer was “proud to be a hippie from Orinda” (SF Bay Area community, I believe)
My nomination for punkification is the works of the Bakersfield Boy, Buck Owens, especially with the slow beginning of “I’ve…got…uh…tiger by the tail, it’s plain to see…” The mind reels.
Close! It was “Hippie from Olema” by The Youngbloods, written by their keyboard player/guitarist Lowell Levinger, who went by the name Banana (no , I’m not making that up).
If you can find it at all, it would probably be the live version from one of their later albums, but they also did a studio version that as far as I know was only released on a 45, and it’s much better.
I can’t call the third line to mind, but the chorus went:
I’m proud to be a hippie from Olema
Where we’re friendly to the squares and all the straights
[misremembered line goes here]
We can’t think of anyone to hate
“Okie from Muskogee” also inspired another hippie answer song, “I’ll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle.” I can never remember who did that one, though.