Post by mojomark on Mar 21, 2010 14:38:53 GMT -5
One way to try to understand a culture or society is to take some cues from the art they produce. Recent politics, particularly concern the bush administration, has brought out some rather hysterical laden concepts about the American South. The dogged adherence to exaggerated stereotypes is stunning in its willful ignorance and self-serving hypocrisy. In the attempt to focus more on what actually are the politics and problems of the South lets look at a few songs that I believe capture the thought progress, opinions and feelings of the people of the South.
Sometimes songs can capture what the public is feeling and thinking. Many of the 60's protest song had this function. Songs like Merle Haggard's, Okie From The Muskogee, become an anthem for a section of the population because it resonates so deeply with so many people. Nixon recognized this and used the song in his rallies in the South in '72. I believe that Charlie Daniels has captured the currant sentiment of a certain part of the public within the conservative southern group.
But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying these songs were significant because they were intellectual achievements or academically brilliant. This goes for all songs, even from the Left. How many Left-wingers still go into a trance when they hear the Buffalo Springfield sing, "Paranoia strikes deep…". One reason music is popular is it helps us express what we are feeling and to a lesser degree, what we are thinking.
This is why I choose Charlie Daniels songs as examples. They are easy to mentally scan and pick out common recognizable ideas and concepts. Many of these ideas are seen in the conservative thought on political discussion boards every day. There are, of course, many other kinds examples of the way the public thinks and feels. These songs are just one.
Aside from usual issues of racism and homophobia, which is always brought up in a discussion about the South, there is mixed in with this anti-south rage, common garden variety politics. This to some people seems to be one in the same. But to the detriment of both sides of the debate, I believe it confuses issues. In an effort to drag these South-bashing issues (probably kicking an screaming) out of the "mud, the blood and the beer" allow me if you will to define Southern politics for those who might struggle with it.
So, what is right-wing/conservative/republican southern politics exactly and what is the redneck or southern thought that gets the Left so riled, in terms of politics? While asking myself this, one of the symbols that pops into my head are some of the popular songs that have come out of the South are mainly some of Charlie Daniels songs. But before I do that I'd like to look at one song that I believe is a forerunner to Daniels's songs, Okie From The Muskogee.
During the height of the anti-war demonstrations, with country music being accepted as even chic, (read the country arrangement of Teach Your Children by CSNY), and notable country stars such as Johnny Cash sounding sympathetic to liberalism, Merle Haggard wrote a song that some thought at the time to be suicide to his career. While no stranger to self-destructive tendencies, Haggard nevertheless was poised to become a crossover artist. With great momentum building in the liberal camp and sentiment waning for the war, Haggard wrote:
We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee;
An' we don't take our trips on LSD.
We don't burn no draft cards down on Main Street;
We like livin' right, an' bein' free.
We don't make no party out of lovin';
We like holdin' hands and pitchin' woo;
We don't let our hair grow long and shaggy,
Like the hippies out in San Francisco do.
And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave 'Old Glory' down at the courthouse,
And white lightnin's still the biggest thrill of all.
Hey, leather boots are still in style for manly footwear;
Beads and Roman sandals won't be seen.
An' football's still the roughest thing on campus,
And the kids there still respect the college dean.
And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave 'Old Glory' down at the courthouse,
And white lightnin's still the biggest thrill of all.
And white lightnin's still the biggest thrill of all,
In Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA.
Written by Roy Burris and Merle Haggard.
(© Tree Publishing.)
From "Best of the Best of Merle Haggard", © 1967, Capitol.
This resonated with conservative America and of course throughout the South and became the anthem for what Nixon term the Silent Majority.
Then we have Charlie Daniels who began his crossover career with a song, of all things, making fun of rednecks, Uneasy Rider, which was followed up later with Long Haired Country Boy.
People say I'm no good
I'm crazy as a loon
'cause I get stoned in the morning,
I get drunk in the afternoon.
Kinda like my old blue tick hound
I like to lay around in the shade.
And I ain't got no money
but I damn sure got it made.
'Cause I ain't askin' nobody for nothin'
if I can't get it on my own.
If you don't like the way I'm livin'
You just leave this long haired country boy alone.
The idea that, although voluntarily poor, he doesn't ask anything from anybody he can't get for himself, smacks of the beginnings of a Libertarian philosophy. In fact, the whole song with smoking dope and doing what he wants is very libertarian in feel.
Although his pride in the South has always been evident as in The South Will Rise Again.
Well, the train to Grinder's Switch is runnin' right on time
And them Tucker Boys are cookin' down in Caroline
People down in Florida can't be still
When ol' Lynyrd Skynrd's pickin' down in Jacksonville
People down in Georgia come from near and far
To hear Richard Betts pickin' on that red guitar
Chorus:
So gather 'round, gather 'round chillun'
Get down, well just get down chillun'
Get loud, well you can be loud and be proud
Well you can be proud, hear now
Be proud you're a rebel
'Cause the South's gonna do it again and again
Elvin Bishop sittin' on a bale of hay
He ain't good lookin', but he sure can play
And there's ZZ Top and you can't forget
That old brother Willie's gettin' soakin' wet
And all the good people down in Tennessee
Are diggin' barefoot Jerry and C.D.B
But as time went by Daniels seemed to get more conservative. Would that be because of age or his read on the South?
Well the eagle's been flying slow and the flag's been flying low
And a lot of people are saying that America's fixing to fall
But speaking just for me and some people from Tennessee
We got a thing or two to tell you all
This lady may have stumbled but she ain't never fell
And if the Russians don't believe that they can all go straight to hell
We're gonna put her feet back on the path of righteousness
And then God bless America again
And you never did think that it ever would happen again
In America, did you?
You never did think that we'd ever get together again
Well we damn sure fooled you
We're walking real proud and we're talking real loud again in America
You never did think that it ever would happen again
From the sound up in Long Island out to San Francisco Bay
And ev'ry thing that's in between them is our home
And we may have done a little bit of fighting amongst ourselves
But you outside people best leave us alone
Cause we'll all stick together and you can take that to the bank
That's the cowboys and the hippies and the rebels and the yanks
You just go and lay your head on a Pittsburgh Steeler fan
And I think you're gonna finally understand
And you never did think that it ever would happen again
In America, did you?
You never did think that we'd ever get together again
Well we damn sure fooled you
We're walking real proud and we're talking real loud again in America
You never did think that it ever would happen again
and...
Simple Man
I ain't nothing but a simple man
Call me a redneck, I reckon that I am
But there's things goin' on that make me mad down to the core
I have to work like a dog to make ends meet
There's crooked politicians and crime in the street
And I'm madder than hell and I ain't gonna take it no more
We tell our kids to just say no
And then some panty waist judge lets a drug dealer go
And he slaps him on the wrist and he turns him back out on the town
Well, if I had my way with people sellin' dope
I'd take a big tall tree and a short piece of rope
And hang 'em up high and let 'em swing till the sun goes down
Chorus:
Well you know what's wrong with the world today
People done gone and put their Bibles away
There livin' by law of the jungle not the law of the land
Well the good book says it, so I know it's the truth
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
You'd better watch where you go
And remember where you've been
That's the way I see it I'm a simple man
Now, I'm the kind of man that wouldn't harm a mouse
But if I catch somebody breakin' in my house
I've got a twelve gauge shotgun waitin' on the other side
So don't go pushin' me against my will
I don't want to have to fight you but I durn sure will
So if you don't want trouble that you'd better just pass me on by
As far as I'm concerned there ain't no excuse
For the raping and the killing and the child abuse
And I've got a way to put and end to all that mess
You just take those rascals out in the swamp
Put them on their knees and tie 'em to a stump
And let the rattlers and the bugs and the alligators do the rest
Chorus
And finally post 9/11…
This ain't no rag it's a flag
This ain't no rag it's a flag
And we don't wear it on our heads
It's a symbol of the land where the good guys live
Are you listening to what I said
You're a coward and a fool
And you broke all of the rules
And you wounded our American pride
And now we're coming with a gun
And we know you're gonna run
But you can't find no place to hide
We're gonna hunt you down like a mad dog hound
Make you pay for the lives you stole
We're all through talking and a messing around
And now it's time to rock and roll
These colors don't run and we're speaking as one
When we say united we stand
When you mess with one, you mess with us all
Every boy, girl, woman and man
You've been acting mighty rash
And talking that trash
Let me give you some advice
You can crawl back in your hole
Like a dirty little mole
But now you're gonna pay the price
You might of shot us in the back
Now you have to face the fact
That the big boys' in the game
And the lightning's been flashing
And the thunder's been crashing
And now it's getting ready to rain
This is the United States of America
The land of the brave and the free
We believe in God and we believe in justice
We believe in liberty
You've been pulling our chain
We should've done something 'bout you a long time ago
But now the flag's flying high and the fur's gonna fly
And soon the whole world's gonna know
This ain't no rag, it's a flag
Old Glory red, white and blue
The stars and the stripes when it comes to a fight
We can do what we have to do
Our people stand proud
The American crowd is faithful, loyal and tough
We're good as the best and better than the rest
And you're gonna find out soon enough
When you look up in the sky
And you see the eagle fly
You better know he's a heading your way
Cause this ain't no rag it's a flag
And it stands for the USA
USA
USA
USA
This is the United States of America
The land of the brave and the free
We believe in God and we believe in justice
We believe in liberty
You've been pulling our chain
We should've done something 'bout you a long time ago
But now the flag's flying high and the fur's gonna fly
And soon the whole world's gonna know
These songs represent to me the progression of Southern Politics in the last 25 years. The fact that the South has risen again to be a political and economic force has created an hysterical backlash in the rest of liberal America. While liberals in the South have an intrinsic understanding of the region and know there is nothing to fear, some of the non-southern liberals have had a serious flare-up recently of laden bigotry towards the South. This is basic fear-driven partisan politics and the resulting mudslinging.