# Willie Nelson just wrote the greatest protest song ever **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 1, 2004, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089 "2004-01-01T08:01:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/81 "2004-01-03T08:07:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by London\_Calling \*btw, isn’t it handy that all the Best. Ever. Protest Songs. are written in English by Americans and Brits . . . If you are looking for a change of language, try _Givat Hatachmoshet_, a song about the taking of Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem during the Six Day War. Kind of in between a protest song and a pretty honest depiction of a very brutal night battle for a deeply entrenched strategic hill. Guess it depends on your politics. Here’s an English translation of the lyrics with a Hebrew .mp3: [http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer\_sys/publish/HtmlFiles/1616/results\_pub\_id=4676.html](http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_sys/publish/HtmlFiles/1616/results_pub_id=4676.html) ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/82 "2004-01-03T08:42:16Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by London\_Calling \* > \*\*\*\* Left Hand of Dorkness_\* - I can appreciate the sentiment even if the delivery seems to be slightly deficient in nuance. > > I suppose this isn’t the place to ask, but what the hell was [Ruby, don’t take your love to town](http://www.songlyrics.com/song-lyrics/Kenny_Rogers/Miscellaneous/Ruby_Don_t_Take_Your_Love_To_Town/138220.html) all about . . . he couldn’t get it up, she was horny and he wanted to shoot her for going into town to get laid ? > > They don’t write chirpy pop songs like that no more, on sirree. \*\* Have you seen the movie “Born on the Fourth of July”? He’s alluding to being impotent from the injury and he has to live with a) he can’t ever have sex and b) she can’t either if she’s faithful. It’s really fucking depressing. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/83 "2004-01-03T13:09:44Z")
[http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/bob\_marley/redemption\_song.html](http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/bob_marley/redemption_song.html) Somewhere Bob is rolling in his grave. I think the whole slavery thing trumps your hate of Bush ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/84 "2004-01-03T14:07:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by county \* > \*\*Wonder why we don’t have any protest songs about “Lets go to War and Kill Saddam” or > “Hey, Baby, you don’t need an Abortion” \*\* How about [this song](http://www.lyricsdomain.com/20/the_sex_pistols/bodies.html)? ---
**Author:** ![LogicinMotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d07c76/32.png) [@LogicinMotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LogicinMotion)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/85 "2004-01-03T14:51:09Z")
I don’t much like Willie, but will respect the amount of time he’s been in his career. But greatest protest song ever? Hardly. As for mindless sheep? Well, politics is a corrupt game, and laws don’t apply, only money, and the friends you make on the way up or down, who’ll benefit. It did put me thinking of a song I’ve always liked. Think of it as my little homage to the Iraqi conflict2. For the purposes of this, GWBush is Colonel Pinkerton, and Mr Hussein is Ms Butterfly. * * * Today’s the day when I see clear A tiny thread of smoke appears Where blue skies fall upon the ocean And shake this staid emotion All the while I sing this song I see a dot on the horizon Growing bigger every second Gleaming white in my direction Who on earth can it be Coming up the path for me? What on earth will he say? Shall I run to him or run away? Freaking out he’s come to get me My feet are stuck but just won’t let me Run to him do I dare? Madam Butterfly don’t blow it -snip Calling Madam Butterfly His angel plucked right from the sky Hide my baby in mystic places I feel the fear that I might die Right in his arms and embraces Softly kissing my eyelashes Got no right no right to doubt it Ain’t no doubt no doubt about it Call me fool! Call me stupid! Bend this arrow kil this cupid I have faith I’ll always pray My white honkey’s here to stay… Which seems apt, LOL. Logic. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/86 "2004-01-04T03:32:54Z")
About the Pearl Jam lyric… > [@](#): > > A confidence man, but why so beleaguered? > He’s not a leader, he’s a Texas leaguer > Swinging for the fence, got lucky with a strike > Drilling for fear, makes the job simple > Born on third, thinks he got a triple > > * * * While that is one of the greatest lines ever, it wasn’t said about Bush the Lesser. It was popularized about Bush Sr. in 1988 by Jim Hightower speaking at the DNC. It was first used in Forbes Magazine in 1983, talking about a lesser oilman. But it’s the kind of phrase that **an elucidator** might have used growing up in Texas. My source is Fred Shapiro, who is the repository of all things quotable. He prof’s at Yale. And can search a mean database. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/87 "2004-01-04T03:35:10Z")
Screw up. Not _Forbes_ but \* Fortune\* ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/88 "2004-01-04T06:35:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kal \* > I must have been wooshed or summut. Sadly and embarrassingly (for me) not. Bleary, and I thought I’d experiment with a new technique for quoting two different posters in the same reply window. Except I go kind of confused in the process . . . and didn’t extract myself terribly well. It wasn’t me, I tell you! It was the drink, drugs, dyslexia and general disarray. Apologies for the numerous unplanned errors. I think I’ll go back to using the tried and tested methodology . . . ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/89 "2004-01-04T09:26:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*Still, he called Bush a liar. He gets major points for that. \*\* It’s entirely possible he could be referring to the US government in general. Or is government a squeaky clean, benevolent force except for the current administration in your world? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/90 "2004-01-04T16:00:34Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by samclem \* …But it’s the kind of phrase that **an elucidator** might have used growing up in Texas. [QUOTE] Not that I recall. Something like… All hat, no cattle or Lies so much, has to hire somebody to call his dogs… or dictatorship of the proletariat… All pretty common. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/91 "2004-01-04T16:08:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elucidator \* > \*\*_Okie from Muskogee_ was tongue-in-cheek? Well, maybe, but it sure escaped me at the time. \*\* Perhaps one of you is thinking of Kinky Friedman’s response, [_Asshole from El Paso_.](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Asshole-from-El-Paso-lyrics-Kinky-Friedman/58A121A9E9B4E00248256AB5002AA388) > [@](#): > > We don’t wipe our asses on Old Glory, > God and Lone Star beer are things we trust. > We keep our women virgins till they’re married > So hosin’ sheep is good enough for us. **Logicinmotion** , that had to be the worst translation of _Un Bel Di_ I’ve ever come across. ---
**Author:** ![LogicinMotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d07c76/32.png) [@LogicinMotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LogicinMotion)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/92 "2004-01-04T16:29:25Z")
Dear Elvis. Not a translation. Thankfully, I know a fair amount about opera, but I stuck my tongue firmly in cheek, and I quoted Malcolm Mclarens song: Madam Butterfly. Just my little ode to Mr Bush, and an askance look at protest songs. It amused me, more so than: In the Ghetto. Because unless there was a McDonalds there, Elvis never visited. 🙂 Thanks for noticing! Logic. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/93 "2004-01-04T16:52:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SenorBeef \* > \*\*It’s entirely possible he could be referring to the US government in general. Or is government a squeaky clean, benevolent force except for the current administration in your world? \*\* When have I ever exonerated the rest of the government? I’ve said repeatedly on this board that the Dems were gutless weasels for going along with this invasion. Still, they did based (at least ostensibly) on Bush’s claims about WMDs. Congress may be gutless but they are not the ones who notably _lied_ to us to sell an illegal war. “How much is a liar’s word worth?” can only refer to Bush. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/94 "2004-01-04T17:07:05Z")
**Diogenes** , you ignorant slut! Clearly, the line references Al Gore’s claim to have invented the Internet! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/95 "2004-01-04T17:18:34Z")
Wow- Diogenes is lauding a multi-gazillionaire who cheated on his taxes and got away with it! Who’d have thunk it possible? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/96 "2004-01-04T17:26:55Z")
Is Willie a multi-gazillionaire? I thought the IRS took everything. And what did he “get away” with? He had to pay them back didn’t he? Anyway, he still has populist credibility. He smokes grass and has a ponytail. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/97 "2004-01-04T18:26:09Z")
This is off politics, so maybe it doesn’t qualify as a protest song, bu how about Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry”? Certainly that skewers the mindless media drivel of schlock-sellers like Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Svinlesha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/22d042/32.png) [@Mr.Svinlesha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Svinlesha)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/98 "2004-01-05T08:46:48Z")
Well, anyway – with all respect to both **Dio** and Mr. Nelson – the best anti-war song of all time has got to be Dylan’s “_Masters of War_,” hands down. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/99 "2004-01-08T17:30:39Z")
"Is Willie a multi-gazillionaire? I thought the IRS took everything." Willie Nelson, in response to Howard Stern’s question about his IRS trouble: “The IRS took my ass and most of its fixtures.” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089/100 "2004-01-08T17:40:26Z")
I think the IRS did Willy a favor, in the long run. They forced him to tour. Some guys like to tour, they are energized by thier audience to a high most of us never get within a million miles of. As Barrie of _Peter Pan_ once said, nothing is really work unless you’d rather be doing something else. Further, they forced him to find more reliable advice, and to prepare for his dotage. After all, the guy’s seventy now, in about twenty years, he’ll start getting old! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-just-wrote-the-greatest-protest-song-ever/222089.md?page=4)