Willie Nelson’s new song, “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other,” is out, and is available for download at iTunes. I just bought it, my first iTunes purchase. I wanted to be sure to show my support; I doubt it’s gonna be a huge hit on mainstream C&W radio. I can already hear the bigots’ boycotts a’comin.
I’ve heard the original, by Pansy Division, but Willie really brings it home. Some great lyrics :
. . . . .
Ten men for each woman was the rule way back when on the prairie,
And somehow those cowboys must have kept themselves warm late at night.
Cowboys are famous for getting riled up about fairies,
But I’ll tell you the reason a big strong man gets so uptight:
Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other
That’s why they wear leather, and Levi’s and belts buckled tight.
There’s many a cowboy who don’t understand the way that he feels towards his
brother;
There’s many a cowboy who’s more like a lady at night.
. . . . .
Fair warning: he drops the Eff Bomb, if that’s something you’re not comfortable with. Oh and he sings about gay cowboys too. But that’s old hat by now.
Geez, ya think? Mainstream C&W radio is an arm of the Republican Party. Willie Nelson is a memory hole performer until he dies. Then they’ll find three or four of his least offensive songs and plat the hell out of them for a month. I’m off to iTunes.
Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain
Whiskey River
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Always On My Mind
Night Life
Good Hearted Woman (just about anything with Waylon)
On The Road Again
Bigott’s boycotts? Er…it’s called free speech and it goes both ways. That is, Willie can write and sing his songs and whomever can protest against them and refuse to buy them. So long as they do so peacefully and within the rule of law then it’s just as valid an expression as Nelson’s.
I’m a Nelson fan myself though a lot of his work tends to blend together but then I think that is symptomatic of all country music ducks away.
I’ve always been a big Willie Nelson fan and had he released this before Brokeback Mountain I would have thought it was pretty cool. Releasing it now makes me hope that he is still in debt to the IRS - very ordinary lyrical content.
Hmm… I meant in terms of CDs (unless those are CDs, I recognize some song titles in there).
I grew up with a passionate hatred of Country, and am only now realizing that there’s some really great stuff in there, mostly from before the current crop of warmed-over pop with cowboy hats and conservative themes became dominant. I’ve already got a decent Johnny Cash collection and want to branch off.
Me too - hated it all and then discovered Patsy Cline, Don Gibson, Dwight Yoakham, BR549, Chet Atkins - anything by any of them will do, a “Best Of…” or anythging else.
Yeah, that’s pretty much my history with Country too. I grew up in TX. My dad loved CW. I hated my dad. So for years I associated CW first with my dad. Then when *Urban Cowboy *happened and CW went mainstream–after Kenny Rogers and his ilk had already blanded it up real good–I hated it even more. I used to be one of those people who said “I like every kind of music but Country.” Then, early 80s, I’m working in a record store, and get exposed to k.d. lang, Dwight Yoakam, and Lyle Lovett. Suddenly I discovered that it was possible to make good music with a twang. This led me to discover the greats, like Patsy Cline and Hank Williams and Buck Owens, and now some of my favorite music is countrified. I still have pretty high standards. I still hate pretty well everything in today’s mainstream Country, but there’s some truly great alterna-Country happening out there. I’m listening to Toni Price right now, and I think I may dig out some Robbie Fulks in a few.
Another Country-hater who makes an exception for Johnny and Willie (man, I LOVED Johnny’s rendition of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt”.)
Really, you just can’t go wrong with any Willie Nelson album. I’d say start with his later stuff, and then if you like it, start going back to his older albums.
It’s available as a downloadable single, for 99c. I expect it will probably be released as a CD single at some point.
Although I think I heard Willie was doing some kind of iTunes exclusive thing. You might have to buy it and burn it yourself. One copy for personal use of course. (Actually, I say that seriously; I personally would like this song’s popularity, whatever that becomes, to be reflected in its official numbers. What I meant above, about “supporting” it.)
Based on his recent album art, I’d wager that he could care less of any hoopla, hullabaloo, brouhaha, hurlyburly, or argybargy that may or may not happen.
I have to agree-- Willie’s not stiving for Number One Single status. He’s got the demeanor of a man who’s made his money, and is happy where he is. He’s got the artistic respect that people like Toby Keith or whoever-the-fuck-tops-the-charts-these-days will never have, and I think that matters more to him than popularity.