Lyr Req: Coward of the County (Kenny Rogers)

Subject: need lyrics to
From: David Land
Date: 28 Jul 98 - 05:30 PM

I'm looking for the lyrics to "Coward of the County", as sung by Kenny Rogers. TIA!

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Jon W.
Date: 28 Jul 98 - 05:35 PM

Try this link to a version from the Cowpie archive.

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: alison
Date: 29 Jul 98 - 09:12 AM

Hi,

Interesting little song this one, sounds quite pleasant until you realise it's about gang rape.

Slainte

Alison

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Rob O
Date: 29 Jul 98 - 12:33 PM

Actually its about more than gang rape.. its about realizing when you have to be physical with your reaction and when you don't.

Not everything needs to be resloved with a fight, but for some people it takes a 2*4 across the face to get their attention, case in point the bad guys of the song.

Rob

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: BSeed
Date: 30 Jul 98 - 01:11 AM

What it's really about is vigilante justice...and about the macho violence that is a thread through much of country music. Not long after he recorded "Coward of the County," Kenny Rogers recorded "The Unknown Love," a song which treats a man who kills his possibly cheating wife or girlfriend ("I did the deed my heart demanded of me") and is about to be hanged, and is in the song treated as heroic ("unknown love"--unknown soldier"). Fortunately, at the same time as this, Reba McIntire had one of her most beautiful songs out, one about love and forgiveness: "Whoever's in New England." But, of course, women are expected to be forgiving in country music: "Stand by Your Man," "A Goodhearted Woman (in Love with a Good Timing Man)," etc.

Subject: Lyr Add: COWARD OF THE COUNTY (from Kenny Rogers)
From: Ralph Butts
Date: 30 Jul 98 - 09:27 AM

Just so everyone can read it, here's Kenny Rogers' version. I tend to choke up a bit when I sing this one...Tiger

COWARD OF THE COUNTY

Everyone considered him the coward of the county.
He'd never stood one single time to prove the county wrong.
His mama named him Tommy, but folks just called him Yellow,
But something always told me they were readin' 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 has just begun.

CHORUS
"Promise me, Son, not to do the things I've done.
Walk away from trouble if you can.
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 everyone 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',
And they took turns at Becky...(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.

CHORUS

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, old Yellow's leavin'",
But you could have 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've done.
I walk 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."

Everyone considered him the coward of the county.

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Jul 98 - 01:38 PM

You could look at this song as an exploration of the moral dilemna a pacifist faces when confronted by violence. Another song on the same theme is HARRIS AND THE MARE by Stan Rogers. I consider myself a pacifist, but I have to say I really don't know what I'd do in a situation like this. Should I stick to my principles and refrain from violence no matter what happens, or should I resort to violence to prevent an innocent person from getting hurt? It's not an easy question to answer.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From:
Date: 30 Jul 98 - 09:44 PM

Do these things really go on in the South?

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From:
Date: 30 Jul 98 - 09:55 PM

Darn, posted that before I was finished.:)

I don't think a great many traditional folk songs could pass such scrutiny. Rapes, murders, daggers in the breast, suicides -- you've heard them all. Coward of the County is pretty tame compared to some. In Lady Maisry, the lady makes the mistake of falling in love with an Englishman, gets called a whore by her father, and gets burned at the stake by her father and brothers. (How did that page run to London so fast, presumably from Scotland?) One can find hundreds of examples, I supect.

Any number of songs deal with jolly sailors or soldiers impregnating women. Most songs allegedly from the point of view of the woman in this and other situations sound suspiciously like they were written by men.

And look at rock music. Has anyone ever actually listened to the lyrics of Under My Thumb? And yet the Stones were considered a pretty cool and with-it band.

And the blues! Well, I suppose at least there we have female blues singers who can dish it out pretty well.:)

I always thought that Stand By Your Man was supposed to be taken ironically, and is a great feminist anthem. Am I reading too much into it? How could anyone married to George Jones not turn into a feminist?

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: BSeed
Date: 30 Jul 98 - 10:58 PM

Tim, if you think country music fans think there's irony in "Stand by Your Man," think back to when Hillary said she wasn't a "Stand by Your Man" type. There's some irony in country ("Put Another Log on the Fire," for example) but most songs are pretty straightforward statements, and that's the charm of much of it.

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Barry Finn
Date: 30 Jul 98 - 11:30 PM

To take it a bit further, some of the older British Isle ballads took to rape as a step up on the socially mobil ladder. The 'Shearing's Not For You' "do you mind on younder hill, where you swore you would me kill, if you did not get your will", manys the maid who had been tricked or worst & the best outcome was marriage to the man, life was not easy for woman or child & I believe some of these songs where of a warning type. As to gang rape, I don't think I've ever come across it in traditional folk, hopefully it wasn't an issue. Kenny R's song deals with the hero/coward as one who's less than the rest because he's not a fighter & only becomes a man on the back of a gang rape victim, the victim, Becky, is only there for Tommy (sounds like the movies), & the rape for her goes unresolved, no so for the Gatlin Bros, who may be seen as fit for killing, rape or no (convienent for Tommy).
BSeed, I couldn't agree more with you on the present state of country music, it's a far cry from it's origins & in my opinion far less likable for it. Barry

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: alison
Date: 31 Jul 98 - 12:28 AM

Hi,

I agree there are plenty of rape type songs in folk music. What I thought was a bit weird was that... (if my memory serves me well)..."Coward of the County" made it to number one in the charts in the UK and got heaps of air play, but even a few years later another song had to be "bleeped" on the radio & TV because it mentioned the word "contraception."

Slainte

Alison

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Mick Lowe
Date: 31 Jul 98 - 08:23 PM

Alison,
As you know I bow to your knowledge, nay even stand in awe, but I don't remember Coward ever getting to No. 1 here in the UK. The only Kenny Rodgers record I remember getting that high was his anti Vietnam song, Lucille? I'm never quite certain if that's the title because of all the parodies I've heard of it, most sexual I must admit. I know Something's Burning & the Gambler did fairly well in "the charts" ( Lord Help us and protect us from it). But I always got the impression that Coward was always seen here as one of his lesser hits.
Having said which, going back to Tim's point when he said I thought folk songs were written by men, too damn right they were. Can you imagine any woman in the 16th-18th century being allowed such freedom of thought as to write songs. Thank God we live in more enlightened times. Some (I might THE) best music comes from female writers.
Correct me if I'm wrong, they don't glorify war/physical violence, which is where we came in.
Mick

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: alison
Date: 31 Jul 98 - 11:48 PM

Hi,

I could well be wrong Mick, I was pretty young at the time, but I do remember seeing it a lot on "Top of the Pops" at the time. I preferred 'Lady" myself, which got into the charts too.

Slainte

Alison

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Rob O
Date: 01 Aug 98 - 12:25 AM

I'll grant a few points as said so far. Yes the song has a rape in it, yes most traditional music was written by men because women were not allowed to show such intellegence and creativity, and yes a good protion of characters in songs are not of the highest moral character.

As I was growing up, "Coward" was one of my favorite songs. I was too young to realize it was about rape. To me it was about being okay turning the other cheek to people and not having to fight to be right. That's a message really lost these days. I do realize that Tommy had to throw down at one point.. but it was only after really considering what had happened, and not choosing violance in an act of rage, but as a descsion that he had not other choices. I don't me to belittle the tragedy of the rape, only that it should take something tragic for a man to resort to a fight.

To many people these days see a fist or a gun as the solution. Tommy was raised differently, and acknowledged that only under dire circumstances is that needed. With all of the school shootings in the US this year, where is that message?

Rob O HS teacher

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: BSeed
Date: 01 Aug 98 - 02:43 AM

Rob, that's a nice interpretation, but I can't see that as the message: Tommy's Becky was gang-raped because Tommy hadn't been known as a fighter and the Gatlin boys (Larry and his brothers? don't know what the songwriter had against them) didn't fear him--and a sub-message of the song is that they didn't fear the law, either, hence Tommy's need to resort to violence...however unlikely it is that someone who has never fought before is going to prevail in a fight against three vicious bullies. Contrary to what an earlier writer said, in these conditions it's Tommy who's most likely to be smashed in the face with a 2 by 4.

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Rob O
Date: 01 Aug 98 - 10:41 AM

Actually the orriganal reference to the 2X4 was mine. *blush* Nice turn about on it. :)

Rob O

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From:
Date: 01 Aug 98 - 01:17 PM

Lucille had nothing to do with the Viet Nam war, as I recall. It was about a guy meeting a woman in a bar when her farmer husband came in. The song spawned some parodies at the time.

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: BSeed
Date: 01 Aug 98 - 04:27 PM

Maybe Mick Lowe was thinking of Ruby (Don't Take Your Love to Town), rather than Lucille. Ruby is about a crippled veteran of "that...Asian war, but I was proud to go and do my patriotic chore" who would resort to violence if he could to stop his wife from partying in town: "If I could move I'd get my gun and put her in the ground," hardly an anti-Vietnam war statement. If you want an anti-Vietnam-war statement in country music, you have to go to "It's Hard to Be a Christian Soldier" by Bobby Bare, who also wrote "The Winner" (it's on his album "The Winner, and Other Losers"). Kris Kristopherson (and, I think,Joan Baez) recorded "Christian Soldier."

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Mick Lowe
Date: 01 Aug 98 - 05:54 PM

BSeed,
You're absolutley right. Just shows how often I take notice of Kenny Rodgers, despite the fact I must have a cd of his floating about somewhere. I'm now going to break all Mudcat rules because this should be another thread i.e. anti Vietnam songs but I'm going to mention it here and because I'm feeling guilty I'll post it seperatley.
There's a song I part remember that goes something like
And its one, two, three, what are we fighting for
I don't give a damn, about Vietnam
And it's five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates
Now don't you fret, don't you cry, whoppee we're all gonna die.
I'll post this as One Two Three.
Cheers
Mick

Subject: Lyr Add: I FEEL LIKE I'M FIXING TO DIE RAG
From: BSeed
Date: 01 Aug 98 - 09:31 PM

Mick: That's Country Joe McDonald's "I Feel Like I'm Fixing To Die Rag." The tune is the second half of the verse and the chorus of Muskrat Ramble. It goes:

Come on, all of you big strong men:
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a hell of a jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam;
So put down your books, pick up a gun;
We're gonna have a whole lot of fun.

CHORUS: And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven, open up your pearly gate,
There ain't no use to wonder why,
Whoopee, we're all going to die.

Come on, generals. Let's move fast.
Your big chance has come at last.
Now you can go out and get them Reds,
'Cause the only good commie is one that's dead,
But hope and pray when they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.

Come on, mothers throughout this land,
Send your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on, fathers, don't hesitate.
Pack 'em off before it's too late,
And you can be the first ones in your blocks
To have your boy come home in a box.

There's one more verse about Wall Street, but I can't remember it.
--seed

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: BSeed
Date: 01 Aug 98 - 09:46 PM

If you're getting weary of this discussion (i'm not) and your spirits could use a lift, your outlook could use a new viewpoint, your heart could use a sweet massage, check out the thread Where Is Spancil Hill.

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Roger Himler
Date: 01 Aug 98 - 09:56 PM

The next to the last verse of I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag:

Come on, Wall Street, don't be slow,
Why, man, this is war A-Go-Go,
There's plenty good money to be made,
Supplying the army with tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray if they drop the Bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong!

For any young whippersnappers, a popular type of dance in the 60's was called go-go dancing, and a popular club was the Whiskey A-Go-Go.

Peace,

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: BSeed
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 01:11 AM

Roger: then I got the second verse's last two lines wrong--what were they? How did the "Come on, generals..."verse end? --seed

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Pete M
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 07:29 AM

Sorry to come in late, I must admit this song "Coward.." is one of my all time most loathed, but I do find the various interpretations and analyses above fascinating. I'm afraid that I am not a pacifist, no matter how much I admire those who are, but if I thought the song was indeed an exploration of the moral dilemma identified by Joe I would definately see it differently. Unfortunately as mentioned by BSeed I can see neither this nor irony, but a sordid justification of the use of violence as means of gaining power (the Gatlin boys) or revenge (the Coward). The moral dilemma of whether to react with violence to prevent violence on a third party is not confined to pacifists, and I supose my concern with the song is that in this case the protaganist does not fight to protect, but to exact revenge for his own loss of face. I think this analysis is bourne out by the phrase "twenty years of crawling", but could also be argued to be symptomatic of the view purveyed in many C&W songs, particularly those recorded by K Rogers, of the spouse as a chattel to be "Owned" and their loss as reflecting directly on the protaganists standing with his peer group, ie not a real man.

OH gawd, I doun arf go on at times doun I? Must be time for my dried frog pills!

Pete M

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Roger Himler
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 07:37 AM

BSeed

Verse two:

Come on, generals, let's move fast,
Your big chance has come at last,
Now you can go out and get those Reds
The only good Commie is one that's dead.
You know that peace can only be won,
When we've blown 'em all to kingdome come.

And I do hope no one takes Country Joe literally on this song.

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: BSeed
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 05:01 PM

Thanks, Roger: I think the song is pretty obviously ironic--"Whoopie, we're all gonna die." --seed

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Art Thieme
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 06:42 PM

Problem here is that PEOPLE are involved! People lie, steal, rape, as well as become Mother Teresa too. And they take all that they see and turn it into literature and all manner of art---even songs---trad and otherwise.(Lawrence Durrell in his amazing ___Alexandria Quartet___ says, at one point, "There are three things you can do with a woman. You can love her. You can suffer for her. Or you can turn her into literature!)

Sometimes it's O.K. to like songs with violent themes; sometimes not! The LAW, at any given moment, is whatever the Supreme Court might say it is! No absolutes! Every coin has two sides. Yin & yang. Every act has a positive aspect as well as a negative side. In nature there's no good or evil.
All of the above statements reflect the personal morality, baggage and ethics of those writing here.

Good polemic, but solves nothing! (This too!)

Art

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Pete M
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 08:17 PM

Good point Art, I think we would all agree. For myself, it is not the behaviour of the people in the song I was getting at, yes I believe that at times you do have to fight, or to put it another way to put something you believe in above your own comfort or even existence, but, and this is the nub of the argument, the act of fighting does not make you a "man" or the refusal to fight a "coward", frequently its the other way round.

Having said that, as we have discussed previously, I will defend peoiples right to write this sort of stuff and sing it - but I don't have to like it. OK I'll get down of my pole -emic now

Is a polemic higher than a high horse?

Pete M

Subject: RE: need lyrics to
From: Art Thieme
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 11:36 PM

I was just stallion for time!!

Art

P.S.--

Heifer joke is better than none...