# Left-wing country & western music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 4, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152 "2003-07-04T00:34:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/41 "2003-07-05T20:18:50Z")
I’m just happy my “populist” theory had some backing… ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/42 "2003-07-05T21:16:47Z")
Jeez… all this discussion on what “Beer for my Horses” means :D. It’s just an ode to lawmen in the OLD WEST! That’s all it is. In the video Willie and Toby are cops, but I didn’t think they show them in the 1880s or something :D. After all, cops today don’t usually ride around on horses or have shootouts with ‘gunsmoke’ all around. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/43 "2003-07-06T00:22:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spoke- \* > \*\*\ > > There is a Merle Haggard tribute album out there entitled Tulare Dust, to which you should give a listen. \*\* Hell yeah! That compilation is great!!! For further fine country leftiness, check out **The Executioner’s Last Songs (Vols. 1 & 2)** by Jon Langford and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts… excellent anti death penalty songs. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/44 "2003-07-06T00:33:08Z")
Whatever the meaning of the song, from the little I know about him, it sounds pretty typical coming from Toby Keith. And Toby _does_ strike me as the kind to try and get Willie Nelson’s horse drunk. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/45 "2003-07-06T00:41:28Z")
Emmylou Harris, definetely, represents the old hip guard of Gram Parsons in Nashville. She even served as President of the Country Music Association. If ya want plenty of left-wing CW music, head south from Nashville to Austin, TX. Great players there, and a fine liberal atmosphere to play that music. The most obvious are the ex-Lubbock triumvirate, the Flatlanders, composed of Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock, but extending out to many other Austin/Lubbock musicians as part of the unofficial group. They get labeled as altcountry now, but when they started out in the 70’s, were too CW roots retro odd to make it in Nashville. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/46 "2003-07-06T00:50:21Z")
I started listening to the Classic Country station the other day, and have been listening to it non-stop. I love it. I’ve also noticed that Loretta Lynn was pretty liberal… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/47 "2003-07-06T03:48:12Z")
I have trouble imagining that Lucinda Williams is a conservative, but I can’t think of any of her lyrics or other statements that would serve as evidence… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/48 "2003-07-08T21:59:33Z")
STATEMENT FROM WILLIE NELSON "I am endorsing Dennis Kucinich for President because he stands up for heartland Americans who are too often overlooked and unheard. He has done that his whole political career. Big corporations are well-represented in Washington, but Dennis Kucinich is a rare Congressman of conscience and bravery who fights for the unrepresented, much like the late Senator Paul Wellstone. Dennis champions individual privacy, safe food laws and family farmers. A Kucinich Administration will put the interests of America’s family farmers, consumers and environment above the greed of industrial agribusiness. “I normally do not get too heavily involved in politics, but this is more about getting involved with America than with politics. I encourage people to learn more about Dennis Kucinich at [http://www.kucinich.us](http://www.kucinich.us) and I will be doing all I can to raise his profile with voters. I plan to do concerts to benefit the campaign.” (This is an individual endorsement and does not reflect the views of any organization.) “It’s an honor,” commented Rep. Kucinich, “to earn the support of a man who has come to symbolize the best values of America.” ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/49 "2003-07-08T23:14:15Z")
On a specific-issue basis, Willie, Johnny, Waylon & Kris ( as The Highwaymen) recorded a tune very sympathetic to the plight of undocumented immigrants… ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/50 "2003-07-09T00:11:40Z")
[_Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)_](http://www.xs4all.nl/~maroen/engels/lyrics/deportee.htm) , written by **Woody Guthrie**. It’s a beautiful song that has also been recorded by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Nanci Griffith & Friends (great version featuring, among others, Steve Earle, Odetta, and Tish Hinojosa), Steve Earle & Lucinda Williams, Dylan, the Byrds, Joan Baez, Cisco Houston… It’s one of my favorite songs ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/51 "2003-07-09T02:51:38Z")
Extending **Enginerd** ’s thoughts above, **Tish Hinojosa** has written “Something in the Rain,” which details the plight of Latino field workers exposed to farm chemicals by farmers “whose profits rape the land.” That’s gotta be pretty far left. And **Steven Fromholz** has written a bunch of songs which, if they don’t directly espouse a cause, have a down-home populuism, including his classic “Texas Trilogy,” which offers a sentimental look at hardscrabble life in Kopperl, Texas ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/52 "2003-07-13T19:04:03Z")
Ah, that’s the thing, a great American tradition: POPULISM. Populist American tendencies often coincide with leftist causes, which is the upside. The downside is that populism often gets in bed with anti-intellectualism. Populism is the exaltation of the common man (and nowadays, woman too) over the Wall Street bankers in their fancy suits with diamond stickpins. Woody Guthrie sang in “Jesse James”: _In this world there’s all kinds of men / Some rob you with a six-gun and some with a fountain pen._ Populism is in the interests of the hard-working but humble Americans with dirt under their fingernails. The Texas liberals like Molly Ivins, Jim Hightower, Michael Lind, and, of course, Willie Nelson and Steven Fromholz are energized by this theme. Save the family farms! I’ve been reading Michael Lind’s books lately like _The Next American Nation, The Radical Center,_ and _Made in Texas_; he’s an intellectual who wants to revive populism as a way to reclaim America from the interest groups of both the left and right. Not sure if he has anything to do with country music, but somehow it’s that same Texas populism that motivates Willie Nelson. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/53 "2003-07-13T20:58:17Z")
Sting is pretty far to the left. What’s that? He’s not a country singer you say? Ha! Give [Love is Stronger than Justice](http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/S/Sting/Sting%20-%20Love%20Is%20Stronger%20Than%20Justice%20lyrics.htm), off of _Ten Summoner’s Tales_ a listen. He’s at least as country as Garth Brooks (not that that’s saying much). ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/54 "2003-07-13T21:30:18Z")
Kinky Friedman is actually fairly conservative, judging from the Op-Ed he writes in _Texas Monthly._ He’s a friend of Dubya (and Bill, to be fair), and was an ardent supporter of the Iraq war, among other things. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/55 "2003-07-14T01:45:16Z")
**Jomo Mojo** wrote: > [@](#): > > Woody Guthrie sang in “Jesse James”: In this world there’s all kinds of men / Some rob you with a six-gun and some with a fountain pen. That line is from “Pretty Boy Floyd,” no? “Jesse James” was not a Woody Guthrie composition, though he may have performed it. He definitely borrowed the tune of “Jesse James” for his own song “Jesus Christ.” ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/56 "2003-07-14T01:55:53Z")
(But yeah, Guthrie was obviously liberal with a capital “L”.) ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/57 "2003-07-14T03:01:58Z")
How about the dearly departed [Hoyt Axton](http://www.sixcats.com/axton/hoyt.htm) ? He was probably most “recognized” for writing _Joy To The World (Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog)_ and his gravely voiced role in _Gremlins_ (as the “collector” who had the cute little tyke, and the all-important list of instructions). He is one of my favorite singer/songwriters of all time. A fabulous storyteller and very engaging with his live audiences. Even when the topic was his experiences with drugs and struggles with chemical dependancy. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Peter\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/58 "2003-07-14T04:50:44Z")
Johnny Cash. Previously mentioned, but to me he’s the antithesis to the likes of Pat Buchanan [The Man in Black](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/j/johnnycashlyrics/maninblacklyrics.html) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/59 "2003-07-14T10:46:44Z")
Thanks for the correction, **spoke-**. I knew it was one or the other. Should have checked first. It was my ex-wife who had the Woody Guthrie songs lo those many years ago. I still have a few shreds of memory left. P.S. Watch the movie _Alice’s Restaurant_ for Pete Seeger’s performance of “Pastures of Plenty,” a WG song about migrant farmworkers. ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152/60 "2003-07-14T13:44:13Z")
Although they’re English and have drum machines and stuff, Alabama 3 make a big thing out of playing marxist country music, and have spoken out on left-wing causes, campaigned against the invasion of Iraq, and promoted prisoners’ rights organisations at gigs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-country-western-music/186152.md?page=4)