A Liberal Impulse in Country and Western?

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go.to/stevek

Johnny Paycheck's "Take This Job and Shove It" could lend itself to Marxist interpretations of the workers rising up against management, I suppose.

on one hand:

outlaw culture
populism of the little man against the company or govt rule
the freedom of the range

on the other hand:

manliness is almighty (in older stuff... now a woman can be tough too)
gospel trappings
old timey conservatism of the musical form
the good ole way

m.

OUCH! STOP THAT, PATSY!

Neither would Dick "Barney Fag" Armey or Bob "Impeach Clinton" Barr, apparently.

O: How do you feel about being closely identified with the politics of "Okie From Muskogee" and "The Fightin' Side Of Me" now?

MH: Oh, I must have been an idiot. It's documentation of the uneducated that lived in America at the time, and I mirror that. I always have. Staying in touch with the working class... I've become self-educated since I wrote that song. (http://www.theonionavclub.com/avclub3709/avfeature_3709.html)

Read the rest of the article to read Haggard rail against Corporate Music, Corporate Whiskey, and the electoral manipulation that put G. Bush in the White House.

Fucking fascist.

It's been great, I gotta go.

Best quote from Jesse Dayton that show, "If you don't like the direction that country has taken lately, pick up one of my albums in the back there. I swear on my life, you can't line-dance to a God damn song on it."

long story short: i meant "cranky libertarian sort" as the highest compliment to Merle. shit, one of my heros -- Frank Zappa -- was also a "cranky libertarian sort," and God bless his memory for it too!

My statement about Dick Armey and Bob Barr was not about equating them with Merle Haggard, but rather a statement on one of the leading news stories that day, namely that Armey and Barr are planning to do work for the ACLU after retiring from Congress. So, in closing, eat a dick, dick.

Love,

hstencil

2) I live in the country. What makes you think I read at all, let alone read these urban "news stories" to which you refer? Jeez.

Respectfully, P. Remak

I am familiar with the valediction "Yahoo". We use it all the time in these parts.

Yahoo,
P.

it's more bit by bit,
song by song, issue-centric
than artist-driven

Yes, I understand that (though that's pretty much what the Dixie Chicks did). Though what I'm really wondering may betray even more naive expectations - whether any mainstream country stars who are not the Dixie Chicks can be convinced to speak out against Bush or for a Dem candidate, or do so implicitly by allowing their songs to be used by a Dem or by performing at a fundraiser/rally/convention.

But that specific interest follows from a more general fanboyish question, which is whether:

a) any well-known, preferably "mainstream", country artists, regardless of their subject-matter, have admitted to moderate to left politics in interviews or conversations with fans

or

b) any ILMers believe that a given country artist, whose politics are unknown/unstated, nevertheless appears to be moderate or left-leaning based upon their lyrics/attitude/bio/personal life. I listed some possibilities above.

The question is partly inspired by Xgau's Garth reviews, where he suggests that Brooks is a secret liberal of sorts.

I'm assuming that most mainstream country stars are right-leaning if they are political at all. Or that whatever politics they have are almost exclusively cultural. And that if they are moderate to left-wing, they generally have an interest in keeping their politics on the d.l. But I wonder if we're due for a change in this area, given the increasing political polarization of the country.

Am I expecting more from country stars or their audience than I am from other musicians? I don't see anyone clamoring to know about Ludacris' politics, or Nickelback's. Maybe there's something inherently political about country or traditionalism? Or that people who play "American" musics can be expected to have politics of some sort? See also heartland rock. Bob Seger evidently voted for Reagan in 84 and performed for Dukakis in 88. I think his music was used on the campaign trail by Bush in 2000, and he's now championed by Kid Rock, a Bush supporter, but does he like Bush? John Mellencamp, among others, was used by Bush in 2000 until he complained, and is now used by Edwards. Is winning the votes or the tacit approval of these artists very important to winning their constituencies? Do these artists express a distinctive political worldview even if their lyrics are not necessarily 'political'?

we should get this going again, and possibly include lesser known acts

yeah this squares very nicely with the post-miranda lambert and post-tswift cliques, and i'm sure there are some other examples i'm totally unaware of

how long will it be before someone mentions kacey musgraves whoops there i said it