| Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond Of Each Other |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT COWBOYS ARE FREQUENTLY, SECRETLY FOND OF EACH OTHER | |
| 1981 songs | |
| 2006 singles | |
| american country songs | |
| willie nelson songs | |
| lgbt-related songs | |
"Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other" (1981) is "the famous gay cowboy and Leather Subculture ) Country musician duo Rick & Andy (''Going Places'' 2005). COMPOSITION Sublette says the song is based on his experiences growing up in .com. while living with his wife in Manhattan next to a gay country bar on Christopher Street called Boots and Saddles. He explains "Gay life in 1981 was very vibrant in those days. It was part of the culture of the city and cowboy imagery is a part of gay iconography." He wrote the song with Nelson's voice in mind: "I was at the beginning of my songwriting career... and used to like writing songs for my favorite voices. I've been a Willie fan since the '60s." As stated above, Sublette is acquainted with gay culture and the song is gay-friendly despite what Ann Northrop of Gay USA describes as "the language of thirty years ago" such as "Well small town don't like it when somebody falls between sexes" and "Well I believe in my soul that inside every man there's a feminine, / And inside every lady there's a deep manly voice loud and clear" which display now marginal views about gender and sexuality (see Havelock Ellis ' ''Sexual Inversion''). However, positive lyrics such as "A cowboy may brag about things that he does with his women, / But the ones who brag loudest are the ones that are most likely queer" include criticisms of The Closet and small town bigotry. NELSON'S VERSION Nelson received a tape of the song from . in the mid to late 1980s and according to the latter "Willie took if from there" though Nelson recently found that demo in a drawer among a stack of his own while recording unreleased songs for iTunes . Nelson says "I thought it was the funniest goddamn song I'd ever heard. I had it on the bus for 20 years, and people would come in and I'd play it. When Brokeback come out, it just seemed like a good time to kick it out of the closet" . Filming for the video featuring '' and its Academy Award nominations, Valentine's Day seemed like the right time to let song be heard." Nelson appeared on the movie's soundtrack with a cover of The Byrds ' "He Was A Friend Of Mine". Nelson himself described the release in a prepared statement: "The song's been in The Closet for 20 years. The timing's right for it to come out. I'm just opening the door." The song's coming out was encouraged by the Coming Out of his friend and Tour Manager of thirty years, David Anderson, two years ago. Says Anderson: "This song obviously has special meaning to me in more ways than one. I want people to know more than anything — gay, straight, whatever — just how cool Willie is and ... his way of thinking, his tolerance, everything about him." RECEPTION Nelson's version of the song is his highest charting single since 1984's duet with .. Nelson also says that he has received very little negative reactions: "Every now and then somebody might get a little offended. It's got bad language in it, so I just don't do it in my shows. Anybody wants to hear it can hear it on iTunes. But you know people are listenin' to it, likin' it. Every now and then somebody don't like it, but that's okay. Similar to years ago, when the hippie thing come out and I started growin' my hair and puttin' the earring in, I got a little flak here and there" . However, most sources speculate about the potential success and reception of the song. Nelson explains that he didn't think "it took a lot of balls to put the song out" saying "first of all, I didn't think anybody would play it. I didn't think it would get on the air, but sure enough it did" though not on country stations: "Oh no, they're not gonna play it" . Sublette, as expected, approves of Nelson's cover, described variously as , and pointedly poignant , and its exposure saying that "It's supposed to be funny, that's what gets people's attention, but to get people to listen to it a second time have to have something going on, and Willie beautifully brought out the tenderness there...[It's nice to have a funny song out there -- it is challenging people to laugh. Everybody is so angry now." Sublette speculated about the song's reception: "Willie's smart. We talked about recording it in the '90s but we needed some kind of context. It wouldn't make sense to just put this on some normal Willie album...The movie provided the context. I don't know if the public is any more or less ready than they were but I think the media is more ready." The song was featured in a Boondocks comic strip on February 27th and 28th ( {Link without Title} ) and mentioned till the 2nd of March. According to Sublette "the Monday and Tuesday strip consisted of my lyrics and dramatizing listeners' response to my lyrics. What a compliment!" Similar songs The song may be compared with the reception of Garth Brooks ' pro-peace 1992 Single "We Shall be Free". The song's single pro-gay line "when we're free to love anyone we choose" caused some radio stations to refuse to play the song, contributing to its peak at No. 12 on Billboard's country singles chart and marking the end of Brooks' string of top ten hits. Dolly Parton recorded " Travelin' Thru " for a transgender themed film '' Transamerica '' (2005), and the song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and was considered the front-runner in the 2005 Oscar song category. "Travelin' Thru" did win as Best Original Song award at the Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2005 . The song was also nominated, though it did not win, for both Best Original Song by the Foreign Press' for the Golden Globes as well as Best Song by the Broadcast Film Critics Association . The difference in subject and visibility between the films lessens the usefulness of this comparison. SOURCES |
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