It stuck me today that I hadn't explained where the "my long hair just can't cover up my redneck" line came from. Its from a country song (surprise, surprise) called "Long Haired Redneck" by David Allan Coe.

It's been one of my favourite quotes for a long time. I've been accused of being very "hippy-ish" (maybe not so much any more) with my long hair, peasant blouses, and long skirts. But y'all know that under that veneer, I'm rather redneck.

This song probably requires a bit if explaination. David Allan Coe was/is part of the Outlaw country movement during the late 60s and 70s. These artists were tired of the politics in Nashville and wanted more control over their music. Many of these artists were very successful as songwriters but had problems getting recording contracts of their own (generally they didn't fit what the record labels wanted of their artists; they were long-haired, dope-doin', boozing, oft times ex-cons). Mr. Coe in particular performed for a long time in a rhinestone suit, biker boots and a domingo mask before revamping his image into the Long Haired Redneck (very large cowboy hats, full beard, exposed prison tattoos and of course long hair). He had a rather large following and was popular among bikers, cowboys and hippies, which often caused issues of the violent sort at his concerts.

Anyway, here's the lyrics.


Country deejays knows that I'm an outlaw
They'd never come to see me in this dive
Where bikers stare at cowboys
Who are laughing at the hippies
Who are praying they'll get out of here alive

Loudmouth in the corner's getting to me
Talkin' 'bout my earrings and my hair
I guess he ain't read the signs that say I've been to prison
Someone ought to warn him
Fore I knock him off his chair

Cause my long hair just can't cover up my redneck
I've won every fight I've ever fought
And I don't need some turkey telling me that I ain't country
Saying I ain't worth damned
Old ticket that he bought


Cause I can sing all them songs about Texas
And I still do all the sad ones that I know
They tell me I look like Merle Haggard
And sound a lot like David Allan Coe

And the barmaid in the last town that we played in
Knew the words to every song I'd wrote
She said Jimmy Rabbit turned her on to my last album
Just about the time the jukebox broke

Yeah, Johnny Cash helped me get out of prison
Long before Rodriguez stole that goat
I've been the rhinestone cowboy for so long I can't remember
And I can do you ever song
Hank Williams ever wrote

And I can sing all them songs about Texas
And I still do all the sad ones that I know
I can't help it, I look like Merle Haggard
And I sound a lot like David Allan Coe

But the country deejays all think I'm an outlaw
And they'd never come to see me in this dive
Where bikers stare at cowboys
Who are laughing at the hippie
sWho are praying they'll get out of here alive

The loudmouth in the corner's getting to me
Talkin' 'bout my earrings and my hair

Written by David Allan Coe and Jimmy Rabbit; Performed by David Allin Coe

Mom and I are half finished our water meditation class. Its been quite good, although not really what I expected. Its very self guided; the instructors showed us how to float (with a pool noodle under our shoulder blades and another under our ankles) and play the music but other than that its mostly up to us. I've never done much meditation before and am really not into it as some. I'm not seeing "spiritual guides" or "flying" or "going to my sancutary" or anything quite so granola as that but I am finding the just floating and breathing and being silent and not thinking very relaxing. And that's really what I signed up for so its all good.

I've always had a real afinity for water. As a child I spent practically my whole summers in the lake. Schumann Lake is the local swimming hole. Its a small, spring fed lake inhabited by loons, perch, trout and various other little creatures. Because its spring fed its DEEP. Its said no one knows how deep it really is; at the end of the dock its about 20' and very soon drops to beyond what the fish finders will register. I can't count the days I spent floating around in that lake on an inner tube or a life jacket.

I didn't go to Friday Night gaming yesterday. Davyd was trying out mass combat rules for a game I don't play and apparently Eric was running another game that I don't play. (I realized yesterday that although I rather like gamers as people the problem with hang out with them is they want to do stuff like GAME.) I was in a foul mood anyway and figured that sharing it with everyone else, while being bored was probably not a good way to keep my friends. Instead, Stephanie and I went to see Madagascar. It was funny and quite good movie (the penguins were hilarious) and left me in a better state of mind. Sometimes my evil schemes work...

Ho hum. Life's been a little mundane (actually its not but if feels that way, thus the not posting). I've been missing the trees...

My parent's quarter section is mostly bush. Fen in fact, wet, marshy ground with poplar, spruce, tamarack, willow, and the odd birch and pine. Every 15 years or so, Dad does some selective logging to weed out the very large trees. They have a tendancy to rot out in the centre and windfall, getting hung up on smaller trees and become dangerous. The last time he did this was when I was at Prairie Bible College. It was the first time I'd really been away from home and missed everything about it. The trees were a major soft spot. Prairie is in Three Hills, Alberta and is aptly named. There are some trees and many of them are even fairly tall but they aren't REAL trees. Real trees don't grow in straight, evenly spaced rows. And they aren't elms. Real trees are wild and chaotic and random. When I got home in the spring I spent a lot of time just wandering among my trees. I came across a spruce stump from on of the trees Dad had cut. It was mammoth. It had to have been six feet across. The clearing it had left was vast. I climbed up on the stump and mourned the tree's passing...