Lyrics are here.
Beautiful.
Article is here.
Kudos to Willie who is a man’s man. He also just gave me a new sig line.
I (heart) Willie Nelson. For other reasons than this, but damnit if he’s not one of the greatest performers ever…
The Willie/Toby collaboration ‘Beer for my horses’ is a much better tune.
I’ve liked Willie Nelson for a long time and admire his songwriting skills, but that reads like a string of cliches for mine. Well may he say “but it just came pouring out.”
Still, he called Bush a liar. He gets major points for that.
I was waiting for this…
Willie played in my Uncle Aaron’s road house…
Maybe 1955. Thereabouts. My grandmother remembers him as a sweet young man with a crew cut. That was before he played with the Crickets. Before he played Harlem.
He tells the story about how he took advantage of a White House invitation to go outside and smoke a doobie. And how bad he felt when they found out. About hurting thier feelings.
OK, I’ve quoted this too many times “I gave up whiskey for weed in 1974. Maybe the only smart thing I ever did.”
Never give up. Never say die. Venceremos!
I’m not a Willie Nelson fan, but I liked those lyrics. Yeah, they were a little cliched, but that’s what made them endearing. It didn’t read like a Bob Dylan-style hardcore peace protest. It read like a sincere reaction to current events by an average man who is dismayed at what’s happening. It’s the sort of thing someone who isn’t that interested in politics, but is concerned at what’s happening to the world might say. That’s why it was powerful.
It warms this old hippie’s heart to see Willie Nelson get this well deserved recognition.
Disclaimer: This recognition of Willie Nelson is not intended to ignore, exclude, or otherwise excoriate songwriters of any race, creed, or nationality different from his. Please do not start a thread pitting Diogenes for recognizing Willie and ignoring the many great British and Australian songwriters.
Actually I’ve reread the lyrics since and checked out other “protest song” lyrics and I have been very unfair. While reading the lyrics I can just about hear the tune because it scans really, really well. Obviously the restrictions of rhyming patterns dictate that you end up with whet sem like trite lyrics. And its a song not an essay so i shouldn’t read it I should listen to it. My apologies for disparaging Mr Nelson. Crazy…indeed.
We can put kudos in the Pit now?
Well, it’s certainly not a joke thread. It might provoke scatologically heated responses. It’s kinda political for Cafe Society. It’s too substantive for MPSIMS. Maybe it would be happier in IMHO, or even Great Debates? I dunno.
Lynn, Esteemed Admin and Catpix Connoisseur, if you deem this thread unfit for the Pit, will you move it rather than closing it? Thank you, thank you!!
For those of you wondering why the links, I am reliably informed that, next to chocolate, such offerings are looked upon with favor by our Peerless Leader.
Willie’s lyrics put a finger on what bothers me about about Christian-based initiatives. Why can’t we have a faith-based peace?
Like Willie, I hope that it does speak to some of his more conservative fans who are not as open to questioning our current Administration’s policies.
elucidator:
Quoi?!
I never heard this story, and I’m a huge fan of ol’ Willie (hearing this story just made me a bigger fan).
When did this happen? Who in the WH invited him to smoke a doob? Could you please elaborate? Thanks.
From the link supplied:
"Tuesday, December 30, 2003
Willie Nelson, who has endorsed Dennis Kucinich for President, and who will lead a fundraising concert for Kucinich’s campaign in Austin, Texas, on Jan. 3, 2004, wrote a new song on Christmas that he will perform in public for the first time at the Austin concert."
Geez, wrote it just in time for his own fundraiser. What a coincidence! :rolleyes:
You guys can favor who you want for the next prez, or bash Bush to the hilt for all I care. There’s one thing about you that irks me, however:
“And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we’ve been told from our birth”
You often claim that those who don’t agree with you are bewildered, uninformed, stupid, or careless. Now Willie climbs upon the elitist bandwagon of the Political Illuminati, stating that those who don’t agree with him are mindless sheep.
This is no way for you to bring converts into your camp, you know.
Most of the populace that will vote for Bush next time is fully informed. I for one would be glad to vote for an acceptable alternative. The onus has been on the Dems/Liberals to provide an acceptable alternative, and so far you’ve failed.
You’ll force me to hold my nose and vote for Bush again, if you can’t do better!
Happy New Year.
Sorry, but Willy couldn’t write his name in the snow…
However, John Mellencamp, a co-organiser of Farm Aid and long-time friend of Willy, came up with a nice little ditty back in March 2003 about Bush and Iraq entitled To Washington which is based on a Woody Guthrie tune.
A few lyrics…
Mellencamp also had a few words to say about the situation in general which I find rather interesting.
>You often claim that those who don’t agree with you are bewildered, uninformed, stupid, or careless. Now Willie climbs upon the elitist bandwagon of the Political Illuminati, stating that those who don’t agree with him are mindless sheep.
Well, maybe they ARE mindless sheep. Just because they support the war and Bush doesn’t mean they are not mindless sheep.
Greatest protest song * ever*??? Apparently that’s just because it disses your personal * bete noire *, Bush.
How about “Fighting for Soldiers”? (“You haven’t an arm, you haven’t a leg, the enemy nearly slew you. You’ll have to be put out on the street to beg, Oh Johnny what have they done to you?”) How about * Joe Hill *? How about Phil Och’s or Woody Guthries entire canon?
Get some frigging perspective, DTC. This probably isn’t even the greatest protest song of 2004 to date.
I like it until the ‘bewildered herd’ line. I disagree with the mainstream therefore I am a brilliant iconoclast and those who agree (or at least don’t mind it too much) are mindless sheep. And not a mention of how our opponent ran his country shedding blood like a Gothic horror movie.
Still, good for him for putting it out there, I guess, if that’s how he feels. I hope ‘conservatives’ don’t waste any ink attacking him.
I think it’s worth remembering that Willie is taking a risk by releasing a song like this because it has the potential to anger a lot of his fan base. He’s not Cheryl Crow or Chrissie Hinds or someobody who normally performs for a liberal, anti-war audience. He performs for conservative country music fans. He not only acknowledges that he could piss off his fan base but says that he hopes it does. He’s willing to speak his mind about this war and doesn’t care if it costs him.
He’s also not someone who normally would try to draw attention to himself with a grandstanding political statement. His “activism” as it were, usually runs to more to causes like Farm Aid and the decriminalization of marijuana. he obviously really means it with this song.
One of my favorite lines in the song is when he says “…don’t mistake caring for weakness.” That means a lot to us peaceniks.
I think it’s ironic that Willie is a close friend of Toby Keith, That must make for some interesting discussions.
To those who were wondering why I put this in the pit: it seemed too political for Cafe but it wasn’t really a debate either so i put it here. Plus, the song itself is pretty much a rant.