Finally, a country song that sounds country! OK, OK, I know the song for today’s post was written in the late 1900s (hurts when I say in like that, huh?? It was recorded in 1981.) but maybe… just maybe…. traditional-sounding country music is making a full comeback in the 2020s. There’s a reason artists like Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers, and Lainey Wilson are popular. And the reason isn’t that they write lyrics about trucks and tan women in bikinis.
The country song is not quite as traditional with its lyrics, though. There are no dying dogs, cheating boyfriends, or beer cans cracking open in these here lyrics. Listen up cowboy! We’re talking about gay stuff, ya hear?
I can’t believe I’m saying this but it’s oddly refreshing when someone is just gay. Like, a guy likes a guy or a woman likes a woman. Times were much simpler back when it was just the LGB crowd, huh? Now there are so many letters in the movement, I’ve heard the Ls, Gs, and Bs want out of the club. Country song titles like “Man, I Feel Like A Woman” just don’t pack the punch they once did because we’re told it’s OK for a man to think the best thing about bein’ a woman is the prerogative to have a little fun… fun, fun!
Then you have crappy music from trans star Dylan Mulvaney, a plagiarized song from self-proclaimed gay pop singer Jojo Siwa, and there’s allegedly such a thing as singular they/them pronouns. What the??? The world has gone mad, girlfriend.
So for a little bit of humor, there’s this song which was meant to be funny. Willie Nelson recorded a version of it in the mid-2000s and now it’s back again. Watch Willie and Orville Peck’s take on “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other.”
I’m not a cowboy but I watch “Yellowstone” which obviously makes me an expert. Cowboys sure do spend a lot of time with each other. Maybe one or two of them start to wonder what the boots and saddles are for. Also, I have no idea what boots and saddles are for for gay people. But the traditional instrumentation and melody are very welcome in the current country music scene that includes humdrum stuff like this from Tim McGraw and this from Chris Young.
Even in its attempt at light-hearted levity, the song does have a hurdle to jump, though. It’s the way I measure most songs. When and in what scenario is the song getting played? You’ve got your road trip playlist, workout songs, breakup songs when you need a good cry, motivational songs, worship music, rock and metal for your rage moods, summer beach tracks, chill music, radio friendly songs, and party anthems. In which category does this song go? Are you listening on a road trip? Certainly not during a gym workout or a long treadmill run. I doubt we’ll ever hear it on the radio, either.
Contrary to how it comes across, it’s not a parody from The Lonely Island, it’s a real song and it’s still (barely) easier to listen to than one of the earliest gay-type songs I remember, even if this new one is gayer… I leave you with the pig-squealing song, “Dueling Banjos” from Deliverance. Gay country music has come a long way.
-Out of the Wilderness
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