Song #76: Hank Williams, Jr. - "Why Can't We All Just Get a Longneck?"
I'm One of You
"Why can't we all just get a longneck? And see how good gettin' along could be?"
Say
whatever you'd like about Hank Williams, Jr. controversial opinions
about politics, President Barack Obama, and such - because, frankly,
most of the political criticisms for him are well-warranted, but don't
knock on his song "Why Can't We All Just Get a Longneck?" with myself in
earshot. The song is probably the best summation for my personal
political/social beliefs and my world views, even if it is
oversimplifying and kind of childish in its proclamation, it's still a
damn-well honest question.
Whenever
I turn on the news to hear about gang violence, a murder, a raping, a
stabbing, what-have-you, this song starts quietly playing in my head. It
asks two fair questions: one being the title of the song, the second
being, "can't we just agree we're gonna disagree?" Even the film's music
video shows a group of well-meaning bar patrons brawling and fighting,
before Hank himself steps up to a podium to ask his key questions.
Coming
out in 2003, the song was arguably Hank Williams, Jr.'s first hit in a
long time, actually getting its own music video to go along with it
(watching the Country Music Television - or CMT - daily, for hours on
end as a kid, I saw this music video thrown in the lineup every now and
then). Since this song, Jr. has failed to captivate me like his father
and his own son Hank Williams III. I think of Jr. as the typical rowdy
country musician, not really helping pioneer a genre into the mainstream
like his father, or help recover it from an overdose on frothy, pop
country like his son. I see him as an average, rowdy musician with
obnoxious political beliefs.
But
I have no particular personal quibbles with Jr. himself, and when I
turn twenty-one, would gladly treat him to a longneck of his choice if I
ever saw him in a bar.
Give "Why Can't We All Just Get a Longneck?" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy8tIA50YM4
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