COUNTRY MUSIC NARRATIVES
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Country narrative songs, also known as story songs, are a subgenre of country music that tells a story through lyrics. These songs often feature vivid characters, compelling plots, and emotional depth.
The plots may often be simple and the lyrics aren’t Shakespeare or Yeats but, as I have written before, in 3 minutes the songs both tell a story and have a life lesson, witness The Gambler, A Boy Named Sue, Ode to Billie Joe.
Here is one such . . .
Bob Newhart once said that he didn’t like country music, but that he didn’t mean to denigrate those who did, and for the people who liked country music, denigrate meant 'put down'.
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Old joke... What happens when you play a C & W song backwards?
Answer: Your dog comes back to life, your crops start growing and your wife comes back to you.
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THE COWARD OF THE COUNTY
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Video:
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Lyrics:
Ev'ryone considered him the coward of the county.
He'd never stood one single time to prove the county wrong.
His mama named him Tommy, the folks just called him yellow,
But something always told me they were reading Tommy wrong.
He was only ten years old when his daddy died in prison.
I looked after Tommy 'cause he was my brother's son.
I still recall the final words my brother said to Tommy:
"Son, my life is over, but yours is just begun.
Promise me, son, not to do the things I've done.
Walk away from trouble if you can.
Now it won't mean you're weak if you turn the other cheek.
I hope you're old enough to understand:
Son, you don't have to fight to be a man."
There's someone for ev'ryone and Tommy's love was Becky.
In her arms he didn't have to prove he was a man.
One day while he was workin' the Gatlin boys came callin'.
They took turns at Becky.... n' there was three of them!
Tommy opened up the door and saw his Becky cryin'.
The torn dress, the shattered look was more than he could stand.
He reached above the fireplace and took down his daddy's picture.
As his tears fell on his daddy's face, He heard these words again:
"Promise me, son, not to do the things I've done.
Walk away from trouble if you can.
Now it won't mean you're weak if you turn the other cheek.
I hope you're old enough to understand:
Son, you don't have to fight to be a man."
The Gatlin boys just laughed at him when he walked into the barroom.
One of them got up and met him halfway 'cross the floor.
When Tommy turned around they said, "Hey look! ol' yellow's leavin'."
But you coulda heard a pin drop when Tommy stopped and locked the door.
Twenty years of crawlin' was bottled up inside him.
He wasn't holdin' nothin' back; he let 'em have it all.
When Tommy left the barroom not a Gatlin boy was standin'.
He said, "This one's for Becky," as he watched the last one fall.
And I heard him say,
"I promised you, Dad, not to do the things you done.
I've walked away from trouble when I can.
Now please don't think I'm weak, I didn't turn the other cheek,
And Papa, I sure hope you understand:
Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man."
Ev'ryone considered him the coward of the county.
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About:
"Coward of the County" is a song written by Roger Bowling and Billy Edd Wheeler and recorded by American country music singer Kenny Rogers. The song was released in November 1979 as the second and final single from Rogers' multi-platinum album Kenny.
The evil brothers in this song are the "Gatlin Boys." In real life, Larry, Steve and Rudy Gatlin were a popular trio who performed as "Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers." Not only that, Larry Gatlin had dated a girl named Becky, which was the name of Tommy's girlfriend in the song. "After it came out, we started getting accused of being rapists," Larry Gatlin said. "I think they could have showed a little good taste and used somebody else's name." The songwriters made the dubious claim that the name was chosen because they "liked the sound of it," and that it had nothing to do with the actual Gatlin brothers. "We tried some other names like the Barlow boys, but they just didn't have the grit of the Gatlin boys," Wheeler said.
Rogers has stated that he was unaware of the connection and that he would have otherwise asked for the name to be changed. Gatlin later claimed in an interview that the song’s cowriter Roger Bowling held a personal grudge against him and deliberately included the name.
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Moral:
“Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man."
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BTW:
It is ambiguous whether the Gatlin Boys end up dead at the end.
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